The Seekers
by TheNovice
Summary: Cho Chang feels trapped in her own life and finds inspiration from the person she suspected the least - Harry Potter. Love, Quidditch, Insanity, and Evil Chapter 9 just added - Finally complete!!!!!!!
1. Chapter 1

The Seekers  
  
"…Metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love."  
  
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Cho sat at the far end of the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. This was as close to isolation as she could get. The din of a hundred different conversations echoed from the ancient stones that made up Castle Hogwarts. Several different strains of laughter could be made out coming from various directions. It was a happy cheerful noise. It was completely inappropriate to Cho's mood.  
  
"Are you okay, Cho?" asked a concerned voice.  
  
Cho did not even turn to see who had asked, but simply nodded. She was so tired of people asking her that question. She was okay. She wasn't good or great. She wasn't bad or terrible. She was okay, and all things considered, that was more than enough. She really wanted to move on from all of this, but that simply would not be possible, until people stopped asking her whether or not she was okay.  
  
She gazed around the Great Hall at her feasting schoolmates. They were joking, and laughing, and bringing their friends up to date on the experiences of summer. One might think, from their expressions, that absolutely nothing was wrong in the world. One might think that the previous year had ended just as every other year had ended. One might think that Cedric Diggory had not died. She did not have the luxury of that illusion. Every single 'Are you okay?' was just another reminder of that.  
  
Feeling as if she were the only unhappy person in the world, Cho continued to scan the faces of those around her. She was sure there was not a single person in the entire room who could understand how she felt. As her eyes went across the Gryffindor table they came upon a small, pale, dark haired figure idly picking at the plate in front of him. She had been wrong. That one knew exactly how she felt.  
  
Knowing it was pointless to continue scanning, she kept her eyes fixed on him. He looked terrible. He was emaciated and his skin was sallow. His eyes, which were normally his best feature, looked tired and dull. Looking at him, one got the impression they were looking at a very old man, much older than was possible for one with his features. On either side of him sat Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, his constant companions since he had come to the school. Hermione was fussing over him and putting more food on his plate.  
  
It wasn't unusual for Harry to come back to Hogwarts looking pale and malnourished, but he had never looked this bad before. Cho had heard rumors that he spent his summers with Muggles who beat him and starved him. She had no idea whether the rumors were true or not, and she rather doubted that Professor Dumbledore would allow such a thing to happen, but it was obvious that summers were not kind to Harry Potter.  
  
He had been there when Cedric had died. Cedric's parents had told her the complete story. He had gone to great risk to bring back Cedric's body so that it could be given a proper burial. No one had ever doubted that Harry was brave. He had proven that to everyone many times before. Bravery seemed to have its price though. It was bad enough that Cedric was dead, Harry looked as if he were going to become a casualty too.  
  
"Cho, are you all right?" It was another nameless voice. Cho once again answered with a nod.  
  
She wondered if Harry were asked about his well being as often as she was. Probably more, she thought, because in Harry's case the matter was visibly open to debate. As if sensing her attentions, Harry looked up and for a second theirs eyes met. Cho gave him a thin smile. Harry instantly averted his eyes downward and seemed to sink even further into his chair, looking even more downcast than before.  
  
'Survivor's Guilt', thought Cho. He feels guilty because Cedric died and he didn't it. She had read about it in one of her father's psychology texts. She had fought it herself. Cedric should not be dead, it had to have been a mistake, and Death had mistaken him for someone else. For a brief time Cho had thought perhaps it had been her. She had recovered though, realized how irrational the thought was. Harry had been right there. Such thoughts must not seem so irrational to him.  
  
He had his friends around him. They surrounded him like bodyguards. Perhaps they could convince him that his life was worth living. Surely it would be difficult to remain depressed for long in the company of Fred and George Weasley. Those two were whirlwinds of good spirits. If those two couldn't break his depression no one could. And what if no one can? What then?  
  
Cho shuddered at the grim thought. Again someone asked after her welfare. She wished she could go to Harry and comfort him. She wished that she could tell him she understood. But that would never do. Her role was that of the grieving girlfriend of the deceased Cedric Diggory. Harry was the rival. Harry had competed with Cedric in the TriWizard Competition. Harry had asked her to Yule Ball after Cedric. Harry had harbored a famous crush on her since his first year. Harry had been there when Cedric had died. She imagined the outrage that would be generated if she acted on her urge.  
  
It was a house of cards, a large elaborate house of cards. She and Harry grieved for the same reason, but were unable to console each other. When everyone else had moved on, two of the people most effected by the loss were isolated, cut off from the one other person most capable of easing their pain. And why? Because the arbitrary dictates of their culture said so. It was a house of cards and she wanted to knock it down and expose if for the façade it was. She wanted to, but she wasn't going to and there was no use telling herself otherwise.  
  
That night, as she lay in her bed, with drapes pulled tightly closed around her and a silencing charm cast on them to keep out unwanted interference, she continued to think. She was trapped again - no matter which direction she turned she was trapped. She thought about the poetry that described life as a series of forks in a road. Those poets knew nothing of her life. If her life was a road, it was an expressway. On her road, there were no forks, all of the decisions were already made. They were made by her mother and father, they were made by her friends, they were made by society. On the road of life, Cho Chang was a passenger.  
  
Most young people her age were making plans for their futures. Cho didn't need to. Her future was already planned. Her profession was already chosen, her parents had decided when she was just a girl that she was going to be a doctor. Perhaps her future husband had not been exactly chosen, but there was a very narrow range of characteristics he was supposed to have. It was just a matter of finding someone to fit the silhouette her parents had already drawn. She might be allowed to name her children, but even that was iffy.  
  
As if the expectations of her mother were not bad enough, she now had to contend with the overwhelming expectations of her friends and peers. Ellwyn had introduced her to Cedric. Who could be more perfect for Cho than another seeker? That he was very handsome hadn't hurt at all. Everyone had insisted they made such a wonderful couple. Cho hadn't even thought to argue he was after all the Champion of Hogwarts, or at least the Co- Champion with Harry. But what had he seen in her? What had she seen in him?  
  
She knew what he had seen in her. Before she had come to hate the question 'Are you all right?' there had been a phrase she had hated even more: 'You're so beautiful'. It was a terrible, pretentious thing to hate, but she hated it anyway. It had its advantages of course, and she wasn't above using them in a coy, casual way. It was all any boy ever knew about her. It made them turn into blithering idiots. There were worse things that could happen to a girl of course, and she didn't want to trade places with that Slytherin girl Millicent Bulstrode or anything, but it would be nice if just one of them would bother to see the real her. Cedric hadn't.  
  
So why had she gone out with him? Because he was the handsome, Quidditch- playing, champion of Hufflepuff, that's why. In the end she was as bad as the boys she made a career of ignoring. She knew nothing about Cedric except that he played Seeker. She had learned more of course. They had become friends. But that was it. His death had hit her hard. No one that she had known had ever died before. She had known of death, but never had to deal with it personally. It had been traumatic, to say the very least.  
  
She needed to move on. She wanted to move on. She wanted people to stop asking her that question. She wanted to spend time with her friends and laugh. She wanted to be normal. She wanted to fly. She wanted to play Quidditch.  
  
In her whole life, she had made one decision on her own, only one time had she defied the will of her mother. That decision to had been to play Quidditch. Her mother had been absolutely furious when she found out Cho had joined the Ravenclaw House team. In her mother's world, Quidditch was not a suitable past time for a young woman with Cho's future. Cho was adamant and convinced her mother that playing Quidditch might actually enhance her future prospects. Eventually she had triumphed, and in her second year she became Seeker for Ravenclaw.  
  
Being a Seeker was the one thing in her life that she had chosen and accomplished completely on her own. It was the thing of which she was most proud. She was good at it too. She was one of the best seekers Ravenclaw had ever had. Gryffindor had overshadowed her accomplishments, but that did not make them any less impressive or any less important. The season would start soon and she was looking forward to it.  
  
Quidditch was good for the soul.  
  
  
  
Author's note: I have to apologize for any grammatical errors, I am posting this story un-beta'd. If you are interested in being a beta reader for this story, please drop me an email and we'll chat. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Quidditch would be good for the soul if she ever got the chance to play it as it was intended.  
  
The first match of the year had been against Slytherin. What a bunch of prats and thugs! The match had been the usual slugfest, full of fouls, sucker punches, and the normal bag of dirty tricks. The only thing that even made the Slytherin team competitive was the fact that every single one of them flew on a top-notch broom. That they were completely ruthless and unbounded by any concept of sportsmanship or fair play didn't hurt either.  
  
Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin Seeker, didn't deserve to sit on a broom. His idea of playing Seeker was to follow her around until she found the snitch and then make a mad rush at the last second. It never occurred to him to look for the bloody thing himself. The day she lost a Snitch to Draco Malfoy was the day she would hang up her broom and quit.  
  
If the Slytherin match had been bad, the Hufflepuff match had been infuriating. David Brigstock, Elwyn's younger brother, had refused to compete against her. Of course, she didn't know that until after she'd already caught the Snitch or she would have called the match a forfeit. She understood that it was supposed to be some sort of gesture, but how could they think she would appreciate such a thing? Even Cedric would have known better than that.  
  
It had been an insult, but she'd had to accept it graciously. It was like cheating. It sullied the purity of Quidditch. If Hufflepuff had done this though, what was going to happen at their next match when they played against Gryffindor? How could they do this to Quidditch? Didn't they know how important this game was to her?  
  
Something similar to Cho's thoughts was echoing through the minds of almost everyone at the school. Particularly pre-occupied by these thoughts were the members of the Gryffindor House Quidditch team. Everyone knew Harry held himself responsible for Cedric's death. Would he be able to play against Cho? The team decided that they would leave the decision to Harry, whatever he decided, they would support. The problem was that Harry wasn't talking.  
  
Match time approached and the members of Gryffindor didn't know whether they were walking into a match or a mass suicide. They had pledged themselves either way, but they wanted to know. Angelina Johnson, the new Captain, tried to give a pre-game pep talk but it was hard when she didn't know what was going to happen herself. Harry remained stone-faced, clutching his Firebolt, nobody remembered him having said a word for days.  
  
Out on the pitch, both teams assembled for Madame Hooch's lecture. Cho squared off with Harry and locked eyes. A bond of silent understanding passed between them. Harry saw the plea on her face and he knew, she was sure of it. He made no gesture of acknowledgement, but she could tell. At the whistle they mounted their brooms and launched into the air. Harry's teammates had no idea what he had planned, and until they knew, they were going to play Quidditch.  
  
Traditionally, a Seeker spent most of a Quidditch match waiting. A Seeker's first task was to find the Snitch. This was hard to do, as the Snitch was small and fast. Usually the search was done high above the normal activity of the game, until the little winged orb was actually spotted, then the Seeker would dive and try to snatch it out of the air. To find the snitch required a special eye, many who played the position did not actually have the eye for it, and thus was born the strategy of waiting for the other Seeker to find the Snitch, then take advantage of superior flying or speed to take it from them. Maneuvers such as the Wronski Feint had been developed to counter such behavior.  
  
Although the position required superior flying ability, courage, and speed, it was generally considered a passive position. An indeterminate period of boredom followed by 60 seconds or so of sheer adrenaline was how someone had once summed it up. Patience was considered to be the forgotten virtue needed by a Seeker.  
  
This game did not follow tradition. Harry reached his normal searching spot and turned to face the pitch, seeking out the figure of the opposing Seeker. When he was sure that he had her attention he picked a spot in the middle of the pitch and started to edge towards it. When Cho started to move as well he began a steep rapid dive. Three-quarters of the way there, he pulled himself out of the dive and returned to altitude searching the air around him for any sign of the snitch or his opponent. Unable to pull out of her dive as quickly as he had, he found her skimming slightly above ground level and starting her own climb.  
  
As soon as Cho reached altitude, she made a feint of her own. Harry started to follow but then dipped his broom steeply in the opposite direction. He had called her bluff. She rolled 360 degrees and brought herself back up to a decent height, scanning the sky continuously. The game was about six minutes old and there had already been two feints and a counter-feint. That was more than she'd had the entire season so far. Lee Jordan was shouting something about Harry and his Firebolt and she quickly turned to look for him. She found him streaking across the Pitch, bent low onto his broomstick, probably approaching maximum speed. As he approached the boundary he pulled up into a dive, corkscrewed and reversed directions.  
  
In the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of gold. She accelerated up and away from it, tracking it with her peripheral vision. It was the snitch. Nonchalantly she maneuvered her broom to point in the right direction. He was watching her, she knew it, this had to be done carefully. Finally in position she accelerated and dove. He was immediately on her tail. She could hear Lee Jordan screaming and the roar of the crowd. Harry was fast, but she was closer. Even his Firebolt would not get him there fast enough. Then, in a flash, the Snitch was gone.  
  
Quickly she braked. The bloody Snitch had leapt straight up and out of her field of vision. Hastily, she tried to reacquire it. It wasn't hard. All she had to do was trace Harry's line of sight. He was moving too fast though, he was going to have to turn around or go out of bounds. That meant he would lose his eye lock on the Snitch. She rose and built up speed to resume the chase. In one of the most amazing aerial maneuvers she had ever seen, Harry made an outside loop followed by a barrel roll to re-orient himself onto the field. It would take him precious seconds to reacquire the Snitch. Cho tried to coax a little more speed out of her Comet.  
  
She flew right into a Bludger. The wind was knocked out of her, but she was okay. What was really bad was that she had lost her eye lock. Harry was still searching though, and still moving at near full velocity. That was the bright side. Guessing that she had lost the Snitch as well Harry made a mad dash for nowhere. Cho couldn't take the risk of not answering this feint. When it turned out to be false, she answered with a feint of her own. They continued to feint back and forth for what seemed forever.  
  
There were feints within feints within feints. There was continuous high- speed motion. Never, in six years of flying and five years of Quidditch, had Cho ever pushed her broom so hard. What had happened to sitting high above the action of a game, seeking the Snitch by eye? Harry zipped through the action of the game, caused the Ravenclaw chasers to lose the Quaffle. He buzzed the Keeper. He made the Beaters foul. Cho tried to do the same to the Gryffindors tried to distract him from his offensive maneuvers with feints. What had happened to find the Snitch and catch it?  
  
Cho didn't have a clue what the score was, but couldn't risk taking the time to find out. She had never ever played a game of Quidditch like this. She had never even imagined a game of Quidditch like this. This was the most amazing experience of her life, it was better than her very first game. She had taken a Bludger to the stomach, and knew she must be bruised, but she was so high on adrenaline that she felt no pain. There would be time for pain and scores when the game was over – just now, she had to find that bloody Snitch.  
  
She spotted it near the center Gryffindor goalpost. Harry was already in pursuit but the Snitch, sensing that the chase was on had taken off on a curly-cue like course towards the opposite end of the field. Cho, rather than simply follow in Harry's wake, decided to try and anticipate the Snitch's course. The Snitch bounced and lurched and surged and bobbed its way randomly down the pitch. Cho had played Quidditch for five years and she had never seen one possessed by such a demonic determination to avoid being caught. On reaching the Ravenclaw goalpost the Snitch immediately changed directions and shot like a bullet to the opposite end of the field.  
  
Cho inverted and pulled an inside loop. Her broomstick moaned with the stress of the maneuver. Harry was already ahead of her, but it didn't matter. The snitch hurtled past them in the opposite direction. Harry immediately started braking but before he could even maneuver the snitch was back bobbing in the 10 meters or so between them, taunting them. Cho lunged her broom at the orb. Harry accelerated forward, away from the Snitch. What was he doing? He couldn't possibly be throwing the game now. The Snitch leapt into motion before she could reach it.  
  
Turning to chase it, she saw Harry ahead of her mounted backwards on his broom, eyes locked on the small, winged ball. He had anticipated it. Once again the orb began to corkscrew. Harry tried to catch it as it flew over his head, but missed it by inches. Cho was still trying to catch up. She still had a chance because Harry could not fly at full speed while facing backwards. With less than a meter between them, Harry began a series of rolls that resembled an American Indian pony trick. She had no idea how he was even managing to stay on his broom. Then suddenly his broom went in to a steep dive. Harry wasn't on it.  
  
For an instant in time Harry hurtled downward. He was hurtling toward the Snitch though. He closed his finger around it with one hand, then reached out with his other hand to grab the Firebolt. Cho realized he had done it on purpose. As he made contact with the broom, it started to come out of his dive. Harry's arm looked like it was about to be pulled out of its socket, but somehow he managed to hang on. The broom and Harry were moving downward too fast to totally prevent contact with the ground. Harry hit first and immediately began somersaulting forward from the force.  
  
Perhaps a dozen meters from where he first land, he finally came to a halt. Dizzily he stood himself up and help up his hand. He still had the Snitch. He had won. The crowd in the stands was completely silent. Cho was the first to land. She got off her broom and stood in shock. That was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. Tears came to her eyes as her teammates started to land around her, concern and question in their eyes. Cho could only stand there and weep. Even Madam Hooch was in shock, she still had not blown the whistle to end the match.  
  
The Gryffindors came to land around Harry, with similar expressions on their faces. Harry was barely able to manage it, but still he was standing there holding up the Snitch, trying to catch his breath. No one was sure what had happened. Quidditch was not played like that. Whatever had happened up there was not what Seekers did. The Ravenclaw Beaters began to mutter about Harry Potter going too far, first he had taken the TriWizard competition, had something to do with Diggory, and then couldn't even allow Cho to catch a bloody Snitch. The sentiment seemed to take hold and the Ravenclaws moved into a defensive formation around Cho. The Gryffindors, quick to catch the drift, moved into a similar formation around Harry.  
  
Cho pushed all of them aside. The Gryffindors let her through, but kept their eye on the rest of her team. If this was something between her and Harry, they were going to settle without outside interference. As Cho approached, Harry made his best effort to stand up straight. He had no idea what she wanted, but he wasn't going to cower. Cho looked at him and tried to get the tears out her eyes. She was sure she looked absolutely horrid. It didn't matter. She threw her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could. She was as out of breath as he was or she was quite sure she would have kissed him. He put his arms around her in return and they simply stood there.  
  
Sensing that the moment of tension had passed, Madame Hooch blew her whistle and declared "240-80 Gryffindor". The match was over and the cheering began. The crowd finally decided that whatever had happened was a good thing. Harry and Cho broke their embrace. Harry was immediately swept off on the shoulders of his teammates. Cho watched until he disappeared, then returned to the warm welcome of her own teammates.  
  
Author's Note: Again, this is posted without the benefit of a beta reader. If you are interested in becoming a beta reader for this story, please drop me an email.  
  
This story is my ambitious attempt to write a female main character. Let's all hope I can pull it off. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Cho went to bed exhausted and sore. She woke up the next morning energized and feeling better than she had for months. She decided to skip breakfast and have a lazy morning lay-about. There was so much she had to think about. She had wanted to do it last night, but she had fallen asleep as soon as she made it into bed.  
  
That match! That had been a work of art. It had been a masterpiece. She hoped that someone had recorded it, maybe that weird Gryffindor kid who was always going around with a camera. She would have to ask him. That match deserved to be in the history books. To think, she had been worried that Harry Potter would throw the game!  
  
Harry Potter was an artist. He was brilliant. He was a genius. And he had allowed her to be part of it. Quidditch would never be the same. He had changed the role of the Seeker from cat-and-mouse, please-dear-god-someone- catch-the-Snitch-so-I-can-go-to-the-loo to something like a cross between ballet and the Gran Prix. Once the word of this got out, no one would ever look at Seekers the same way again.  
  
Not only had he allowed her to be a part of it, he had done it for her. She had seen it in his eyes, both before and after the match. She had mentally pleaded with him to give her a real game of Quidditch. She had seen the acknowledgement in his eyes. She didn't know what he had planned to do before he came out on the field, but she was sure it wasn't that. Then at the end, she had seen that fire in his eyes, his own amazement at what had happened, the look of questioning in his eyes as if to say 'Was that what you wanted?'  
  
All she had wanted was a good match of Quidditch. She had asked for a sandwich and he had invented a whole new cuisine for her. Just for her! Harry Potter, who had more justification than anyone to simply forfeit the match – even she had half expected him to forfeit. Instead he had given her this! She wished she had kissed him yesterday. To hell with what anyone thought – Mother, Cedric, Anyone.  
  
She had not known such flying was possible - not just Harry's flying, but her own as well. She had never, ever flown like that. He had brought things out of her she didn't even know she had. That match had transformed her. She was no longer the same person - not just in Quidditch, but in life. She was no longer going to be a passenger in her own life. She was going to make the choices now.  
  
She had misjudged Harry. She had always thought of him as another of those "Oh Cho, you're so beautiful!" boys. She had heard of his crush on her, had even been somewhat flattered that the most famous boy wizard in the world had picked her. He had never done anything about it until last year's Yule Ball anyway, and then it had been too late. If she had known…well, that was silly because even he hadn't known.  
  
He had known something though. He knew what Quidditch was. He knew what it was to be a Seeker, and have a Snitch just handed to you. He had known how it must have hurt her to catch the Snitch only to see Brigstock sitting placidly on his broom with his arms crossed. In one night he had known how to cure months of pain. What a wonderful, wonderful gift he had given her. She was going to see him.  
  
Cho got out of bed, took a shower, and made herself presentable. In the Common was the usual crowd, studying, playing chess, writing letters. Maire, and Dierdre leapt to their feet when they saw her. "Cho, Are you all right? We were worried about you."  
  
Cho laughed to herself. She was SO over that. "I am absolutely wonderful," she answered and continued on out of the Common Room without even pausing. She made her way down the three flights of shifting stairways, across the Main Hall, up two more flights of stairs, down the corridor to the left, and up one final set of stairs. Members of one house weren't supposed to know the exact location of the other houses entrances, but you had to be blind not to have some kind of an idea. She would wait.  
  
She paced for several minutes before a Gryffindor first-year finally showed up. She asked him to please summon Harry Potter for her. He simply said he would be back in a couple minutes. The next person to emerge in the hallway was neither Harry Potter nor the young Gryffindor sent in. It was Ginny Weasley. This would be interesting, Cho thought. Ginny Weasley's crush on Harry was even more famous than Harry's crush on herself.  
  
"Can I help you?" asked Ginny with a smile that had an edge like broken glass.  
  
"Sure, " said Cho, "I'm here to see Harry Potter." She was entirely to happy to start assuming the worst about people.  
  
"He doesn't want to see you." Ginny said bluntly, adding a bit of tooth to her smile.  
  
"Shouldn't he tell me that himself?" asked Cho, "I'm pretty sure he wants to see me," Cho added a little smile of her own. The smile had a different effect on women than it did on men, but that effect seemed be appropriate at the moment.  
  
"You're wrong for him. Why can't you just leave him alone? Don't you know how much he's been hurt already?" Ginny was no longer smiling.  
  
"Believe it or not, I've learned a great deal about hurting lately. I'm here to see Harry Potter. Are you going to help me or not?"  
  
"or Not…" answered Ginny standing her ground.  
  
"Fine, I'll just send an owl. Thanks for nothing."  
  
"Listen Chang, I've tried to be nice about this. Stay the bloody hell away from Harry Potter. Understand? Otherwise I'll make it my life's ambition to make your life a living hell."  
  
"You and what army?"  
  
"You Ravenclaws aren't as smart as you're made out to be if you're asking a Weasley that question."  
  
"Alright 'Weasley', we'll do this your way." Cho turned and headed off to the Owlery. She scribbled a quick note and sent her owl, Clark, on his way. Since he was only flying a few hundred meters at most, Cho decided to wait for his return. As expected, Clark returned a few minutes later, but flying in circles and banking to one side, then the other. Her note still attached to his claw. That Weasley had hexed her owl. She was going to pay for that.  
  
Cho searched until she found the perch of the Weasley family owl, and performed a little advanced transfiguration. When she was done she actually rather impressed with her work, too bad she couldn't turn a prank in as a class project. Lowell, the Weasley family owl was now a dead ringer for the Singing Valentine Dwarf that Ginny had sent to Harry during her first year. Let her relive that experience.  
  
She didn't know how she was going to get in touch with Harry, she would probably have to wait until meal time. Meanwhile, she made her way down to the broom shack to clean and tweak her broom. Normally that was something she did immediately after a game, but yesterday she had just been too tired. Sitting in front of the shed she found the object of her earlier search, doing exactly what she had planned. Harry was unaware of her presence and she used the opportunity to observe him unseen.  
  
She watched as he intently adjusted each twig and sighted it for trueness. She watched as he polished the handle and buffed out the nicks. He was a craftsman. The broom he owned was state-of-the-art. It was the same broom the pros used. It was obvious that he knew its significance, that he treated his ownership as a privilege and a responsibility. She wasn't even a little surprised. She decided to make her presence known and called his name. He did not answer immediately, but finished working out whatever imperfection it was he was working on, and then looked up. He smiled at her, eyes sparkling.  
  
"I needed to say thank you," Cho started. She had wanted to talk to him do badly but now she didn't know how to say the words.  
  
"Thank you as well," Harry answered.  
  
"How did you do that? I mean, why did you do it? Or maybe I mean how did you know how?" Cho stopped herself. He knew what she meant.  
  
"I had been thinking about it for a long time, since my first match really. When I saw the Championships last year, I started to think how it could really be done. Then there was last year with no Quidditch, and during the summer I didn't think much about Quidditch." Harry went silent. Cho put a hand on his shoulder. They would deal with that another time.  
  
"I watched both of your earlier matches. You trounced Malfoy like he was a child," Harry continued.  
  
"Malfoy is nothing. He's a snatcher, and not a very good one at that."  
  
"Then that Hufflepuff match. I know he thought he was doing something grand, but I know that must have been humiliating. I think I would have just let the Snitch go."  
  
He knew, Cho thought. She had been so incredibly wrong about this one. He saw the real her.  
  
"You were so gracious about it though. You had to have been cringing on the inside, but still you let them have their moment. Everyone was expecting me to do the same thing. I even wondered if I was supposed to do the same thing. I wouldn't have done it the same way though. I would have just asked for a forfeit. I couldn't have done what Brigstock did though. I went on the field expecting to ask for a forfeit, but then I saw the look in your eyes.  
  
"It all came back then. I knew what I was going to do. You are like me. You need to fly. When there is a Snitch in the air, you need to catch it. You're a Seeker. To play Quidditch, to play our Quidditch, two Seekers are needed, real Seekers. What had been missing from my vision was an opponent. Only flying against another true Seeker, could I have put the final pieces together. We created a whole new game last night. We did it together."  
  
"I actually thought you were going to throw the game at the end. I thought you were just giving me the Snitch."  
  
"Cho, you are the very last person to whom I would ever 'give' a Snitch."  
  
Her heart did a somersault. Those words, they sounded cruel, but they were the finest compliment anyone had ever paid her. The words entered her body like shrapnel, and rattled around inside her. Those words eviscerated her. They killed her. It was a painless death. A new Cho immediately took her place. Cho the Passenger was dead. Now and forever she would be Cho the Seeker. She was Cho who made her own Choices. She was Cho who loved Harry Potter.  
  
She encircled him in her arms and pulled him as close to her as she could. She let her body memorize the feel of his as it pressed against her. Then she kissed him, as she wished she had done the night before. This was not a shy, tenuous kiss, this was a full open kiss. This was the kind of kiss she'd only known once or twice before. She want to absorb him, to make him part of her. She did not let go until they were both desperate for air.  
  
"Merlin's Ghost! that was a kiss…" Harry was in shock.  
  
"Of course, it was silly…" She leaned in and kissed him again.  
  
"Why me?" Harry asked when they paused for air.  
  
"Why me?" Cho asked and kissed him again.  
  
"What about Cedric?" There was pain in his voice. Cho could tell he was not going to let this go. They were going to have to deal with this. She would have to heal him as he had healed her. He had seen into her soul, and done it from a distance. Now she would have to do the same for him. She could do so from up close though.  
  
"Cedric is gone Harry. He died too young, but he died a champion and he died a Hufflepuff, with his wand in his hand ready to fight beside another champion. That was how Cedric lived and that was how he died."  
  
"He wasn't supposed to be there. If I hadn't insisted on sharing the trophy with him he would still be alive. I insisted, I am responsible."  
  
"The man who cast the killing curse was responsible, the man who gave the order was responsible. You can't hold yourself responsible for wanting to share the trophy when you thought Cedric earned it. Can't you see, Voldemort is using your own best qualities against you. If you face him again like this he will defeat you, because you will have already done the hard part for him. You can't allow that. It's the last thing you'd want, it's the last thing I'd want, and it's the last thing Cedric would have wanted."  
  
"And would he have wanted this?" The words stung. He instantly regretted having asked the question.  
  
Cho was shocked into silence for a second, but she did not give up. She knew his secret now. She just had to make him spit it out. Once the words were said, he would be able to heal. "That's what this is really about isn't it Harry? That's why you feel so guilty isn't it? Because you wanted this, because you wanted to be here with me, like this?"  
  
If his own words had stung, Cho's words burned. They burned with truth though. "I was jealous of him. If I hadn't been jealous I would have found a way to save him. I don't know how, but I would have found a way. If I were stronger, and braver, and able to see past my own stupid emotions, I could have saved him and you would still be able to kiss him instead of me." The words were out. There were tears in his eyes. She could see the shame in his face. He had told his secret and now she would tell hers.  
  
"I was not in love with Cedric Diggory. I did not want to be his girlfriend. There was nothing between Cedric and myself except friendship. If Cedric were still alive, we would not be together. For almost six months I have been living this lie that everyone has forced on me. What could I do? Who wants to speak ill of the dead? I was grief stricken. He had been my friend. I felt so guilty because I hadn't been in love with him, that I couldn't return his emotions. I was trapped by him in death in a way I never would have been were he alive. How do you break up with someone who's dead?"  
  
"We should thank him actually," Harry had put his arms around her. Gently he wiped the tears from her eyes. "If it had not been for him, we might never have learned how to really play Quidditch." He kissed her this time and she let herself fall into it. The storm had passed.  
  
Some distance away, unseen by either of them, a small red haired figure was watching. Another storm was brewing.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: I still need a beta reader, but I'll keep at this as long as I can without one and still produce a readable product. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed (both of you!) and the kind words. I am not writing for the reviews, but they really do help me stay motivated. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
Monday morning Cho awoke late. She had stayed with Harry until after midnight. There was a lot to know about Harry. They had talked about everything and they still had so much to tell each other. They had sat whispering under his invisibility cloak, dodging ghosts, and Filch and Mrs. Norris. She had actually broken curfew. They had told each other their life stories. They had talked of Quidditch. They had snogged themselves breathless. And now she was late.  
  
Cho Chang had never been late. Professor Flitwick had taken the obligatory ten points from Ravenclaw, and been just as shocked as the rest of her classmates. She felt absolutely smashing though. She attacked her work with zeal. Charms was a subject she loved. Somehow Harry managed to make his way into her thoughts no matter how hard she concentrated.  
  
At lunchtime she found him eating alone at the Gryffindor table, while reading from a text. She went and sat down beside him. His face lit up into an enormous grin when he saw whom it was. She gave him a quick peck before grabbing a piece of fruit and a chunk of bread.  
  
"It's no fair, if you can concentrate. You must've been having me on with all that snogging."  
  
"It's a façade, " insisted Harry, "I just keep reading the same three words over and over."  
  
"It's no fair having to study at a time like this," agreed Cho.  
  
"My O.W.L.S. are only a month away. I am only going to get one or two at this rate. I'm going to have to settle for a career as a chimney sweep."  
  
"I can help you study for them," offered Cho, "I did quite well on mine."  
  
"Do you think that we'll actually study?" Harry asked with a grin.  
  
"We can still play Quidditch can't we? We'll treat it just the same way. I know Potions doesn't really compare to Flying, but it's only for a short time and it's for a greater goal. You'll never have to worry about being a chimney sweep, you know. Any Quidditch team in the world would be glad to have you."  
  
"A Quidditch career only lasts a few years though. I need something to fall back on."  
  
"We'll come up with something, Harry, and besides you'll do fine. I'm a Ravenclaw remember? With my help the O.W.L.S will be a snap." At the mention of her house, Cho remembered that she was sitting at the Gryffindor table. She glanced in the direction of Ravenclaw and suddenly realized that she and Harry were the center of a great deal of attention. Easily half the eyes in the Great Hall were staring at them. Cho blushed crimson.  
  
It was not so unusual for couples to cross House-lines. It was fairly common actually. Neither was it unusual for one member of a couple to sit at the House table of the other member. One wouldn't have known that from the looks they were receiving. It wasn't a matter of House-lines she knew. It was that she was Cho Chang and he was Harry Potter.  
  
She had expected that there would be surprise. She was even expecting a few people to be upset. She had not prepared herself to be stared at in this way. She looked at Harry. His face had turned quite pink as well. It was really rather cute, it gave him an impish sort of look. She had forgotten that he would have to experience this too. She had never even thought of what it would be like for him.  
  
"I thought I might consider a back-up career as an Auror, but that really isn't much easier than playing Quidditch." Harry continued on as if everything were perfectly normal, "I was wondering if I might be suited for something academic, maybe even teaching."  
  
She wanted to kiss him. She had been worried that he would be embarrassed or angry. He was handling it better than her. Discreetly, she grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I can't really see you as an academic. Maybe I could see you as a teacher, how about a coach? Lot's of former players become coaches." How long, she wondered, until I have him alone again?  
  
They continued to chat until it was time for the next class. He walked her down to the Potions dungeon and left her there with a grin. "This evening, " she promised, "meet me in the library."  
  
That evening both of them were summoned to Madame Hooch's office instead. Cho had been there many times and loved the walls covered with the photographs of former teams, victory shots from matches long gone. It had been Madame Hooch that had first recognized Cho's talent and who had nurtured her love of flying. Madame Hooch had brought Roger Davies down to the first-year flying classes and pointed her out as a possible seeker.  
  
Over the years, Madame Hooch had become her mentor and role model. She never failed to give her an honest critique of her performance, a few words of advice, or something to cheer her up. Madame Hooch was tough and no nonsense. She didn't go for that touchy-feely everyone's-a-winner nonsense. With her you won or you lost. If you won, you figured out what you did right and you did it again. If you lost you figured out what you did wrong and you stopped doing it. Madame Hooch worshiped Quidditch and she admired talent and ability. If she complimented you, you had earned it.  
  
"You've been holding out on me Chang." Madame Hooch called everyone she liked by his or her last name. Everyone else was 'Miss' or 'Mister'.  
  
"Apparently, I was holding out on myself. It was his fault," Cho answered with a gesture towards Harry.  
  
"You Potter, What are you trying to do to my Quidditch?" Harry gulped and had no answer. Cho realized he didn't know Madame Hooch very well. "So you think you can single-handedly change the way Seekers play?"  
  
"No ma'am, not single-handedly," he managed to answer.  
  
"How long did it take you two to work that out? How did you practice it without me knowing about it?"  
  
"We didn't practice. Cho didn't know what I was going to do until I did it. If you're mad, you should be mad at me."  
  
"Mad? You think I'm angry? How could I be angry? Oh no, I just wanted to know how you did it, what you were thinking. Was it a fluke, did you two pull a fast one on me? Can you do it again?"  
  
"He knew what he was doing," said Cho, "He just doesn't realize how big it is. Harry is a visionary."  
  
"I want to see you two do it again. I want a rematch. I want to invite some friends of mine to watch too."  
  
"But the season is over. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor won't play against each other again until next fall."  
  
"I'll ask Professor Dumbledore to let us have an exhibition match. Let's say last week of the term. I'll make sure you get plenty of practice time. I want to see that again. If I were less battered, Potter, I would have you teach me. You are dangerous Potter, you make me want to take the risk of flying again."  
  
Harry blushed. "It's the same game, only more so. No more waiting around waiting for the Snitch. The other Seeker has to play the same way to have any chance. If you wait for your opponent to find the Snitch, you've already lost. Seekers have always won or lost the game, now we get to play it too."  
  
"Bloody Brilliant. Please tell me you plan to play Quidditch for a living." Madame Hooch snorted.  
  
"If I'm good enough by the time I leave Hogwarts."  
  
"Harry, every team in the world is going to want you. They would probably take you now if they could. You too Cho, you're the only one besides Harry that really understands what's going on. You two are going to be big. Be ready for that match! If I can do anything to help you, please ask."  
  
Harry took that as a sign to leave. Cho said she would meet him at the library in a few minutes. Harry nodded understanding and departed.  
  
"I saw you two at lunch today. I guess I don't really need to ask if it's what it looks like."  
  
Cho shook her head. "He's the one," Cho said quietly.  
  
"Really?" asked Madame Hooch, "When did you know? Before or after?  
  
"During actually. It was beautiful up there, not a second of rest, there was nothing but him and the Snitch and the overwhelming desire to get catch it. He threw himself off his broom to keep me from getting it. That meant more than all the Snitches in the world. Yesterday he told me I was the last person in the world he would ever give a snitch to. It was the finest thing anyone had ever told me. I don't know how to explain why it means so much to me that he denies me the thing I want most."  
  
"I understand, if a man ever said that to me, I'd feel the same way. No one's ever going to accuse him of being a poet, that's for sure."  
  
"He does his poetry in the air, that's worth more to me. I'm a Ravenclaw; I've memorized whole books of poetry. They only try to describe with words, what he actually does."  
  
"I take it your mum doesn't know yet."  
  
"There are a lot of things Mother doesn't know yet. I've decided I'm not going to be a doctor. I never really wanted to be one anyway. Quidditch is what I love, and that's what I'm going to do. Mother will have to learn to accept that I am a real person, and that I have to make my own choices."  
  
"Good for you, Chang, I'm proud of you. The world has plenty of doctors, good Seekers are hard to come by."  
  
Cho said her good-byes and ran to the library to meet Harry. They even managed to get some studying done. They worked on a schedule to prepare Harry for his O.W.L.S.  
  
Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower to face an upset Ron and a peevish Hermione.  
  
"Where have you been?" demanded Ron.  
  
"Library mostly," answered Harry, "Did I forget something?"  
  
"When were you going to tell us about Cho?" asked Hermione.  
  
"Sorry, I never really got a chance. It only started yesterday, and I've been kind of busy. It's not like we were keeping a secret."  
  
"I heard you two were snogging like one of you had swallowed a snitch, and the other was trying to catch it with their tongue."  
  
Harry turned scarlet.  
  
"Eww!" said Hermione, "I could have done without the imagery. Harry, you having a girlfriend is a really big deal."  
  
"I don't see why, lots of guys have girlfriends. This is one of the more normal things I've ever done."  
  
"But it's Cho! I thought that you were over your crush on her," insisted Hermione.  
  
"I was. This is different"  
  
"You and Cho, that's just bloody swell," fumed Ron, "So do you know what your 'girlfriend' did to our owl? She turned it into a dwarf!"  
  
"Ok, I give up," asked Harry, "why would Cho turn your owl into a dwarf?"  
  
"She and Ginny had words apparently. To get even, Cho transformed Lowell into a Valentine Dwarf."  
  
"So, isn't that between Ginny and Cho? Why would those two have words in the first place?"  
  
"Oh come one Harry! You can't be that bloody dense." Ron threw his hands in the air as a sign of exasperation.  
  
"See Ron, I told you," Hermione said smugly, "and you can't be mad at him if he doesn't know."  
  
"Know what?" Harry was at a total loss  
  
"Absolutely nothing!" It was Ginny, appearing from nowhere. "If this is about the owl, then never mind. I don't want another word said about it."  
  
Ron started to say something, but Ginny shushed him. Hermione looked at her with raised eyebrows, as if expecting more, but nothing else came. Harry stormed off to his room and Ginny vanished as well.  
  
The next day, Ellwyn and David Brigstock cornered Cho. Ellwyn had been Cho's neighbor and best friend for as long as she could remember. They were the same age and had started Hogwarts together. Ellwyn had been sorted into Hufflepuff, but still they had tried to remain close. It had been Ellwyn that had introduced her to Cedric, and Ellwyn that had led the efforts to 'comfort' Cho. David was her younger brother, the one who thought it such a grand gesture to give her a Snitch.  
  
They were both extremely unhappy with the idea of her and Harry being together. They brought up every imaginable objection against it. Her mother would hate it – Cho already knew that. It dishonored the memory of Cedric – Cho had already been though that, first on her own, then with Harry. Harry was an upstart, a show-off, and to top it off, dangerous – Cho felt she was a much better judge of Harry's character than these two. Cho brushed aside all of their arguments. Why did they care so much about her and Harry?  
  
In the end it came down to threats. Ellwyn would simply have no part of Cho and 'That Potter'. When they broke up, and she assured Cho that it was only a matter of time before they did, she and Ellwyn could talk about restoring their friendship. Cho told her not to bother, what use were fair-weather friends anyway? Worst of all, they had made her miss lunch with Harry.  
  
When she finally got to see Harry, he wasn't in any better of a mood than she was. He was in the library studying with Hermione Granger. Cho felt a twinge of possessiveness. Hermione greeted her warmly and insisted that she was quite happy for the two of them. Apparently, his friend Ron didn't approve of their relationship any more than Ellwyn did. Harry was also suffering with pain from his scar. Harry tried to play it off as nothing, but Hermione made a really big deal out of it. Cho decided she was going to have to get to the bottom of the nature of the relationship between Harry and Hermione.  
  
Hermione sought out Cho first. They had one class together – Applied Arithmancy and Hermione got her self teamed up with Cho for the lab. Professor Vector generally left them on their own for this kind of work so they had plenty of time. Cho had always wondered how it was that Hermione had been sorted as a Gryffindor, rather than a Ravenclaw. Apparently, it had something to do with directness of approach. Hermione was much more polite than Ginny, but she didn't waste any time getting to the point.  
  
"What exactly are your intentions with Harry?"  
  
"This isn't going to another of those 'Stay away from Harry' lectures is it?" Cho asked, "I already got one from Ginny Weasley and I don't feel like going through that again."  
  
"Humph, she didn't tell us that part, the little wench. I assumed something like that had happened. No, I just want to know if you are just trying to be the witch who landed the 'Boy who Lived' or whether you actually fancy Harry."  
  
"It's Harry I want," answered Cho, "I don't care about the rest."  
  
Hermione smiled. "I'm glad. They come as a package though. Harry is very complicated."  
  
"Are you and Harry 'involved'?" If she can come straight to the point, thought Cho, so can I.  
  
"You are the only girl Harry has ever paid any attention to," Hermione answered. "Harry and I are best friends. That might sound lame and I know a lot of people don't believe it, but that's what we are. I never had a brother, and Harry's never had anyone. That's what we are for each other."  
  
"But you care for him. If Harry wanted, you would be more than that."  
  
Hermione nodded. "It's not exactly like you think though. I am only the slightest bit jealous of you. I really do, genuinely wish you two well. If I didn't, we wouldn't be talking like this. There are a lot of things you need to know about Harry and he will never tell you most of them. Loving Harry is hard, you need to know that. If you just want a boyfriend or someone to look good with when you go to Hogsmeade, Harry is more trouble than he's worth.  
  
"Harry needs. He needs everything and he doesn't even know it. He needs a mother and a sister and a wife and a lover and a friend all rolled into one. I can't be all those things to him; I have to hold something back for myself. If you want to love Harry, you have to love him completely and willingly. Part of Harry is still a scared boy who lost his mother, and thinks it's his fault. Harry doesn't believe he deserves love and if you don't constantly remind him of that, he will close himself off. Do you know how he spends his summers?"  
  
Cho nodded. "With some Muggle relatives. I've heard rumors that they don't treat him well. I've never known whether to believe them or not."  
  
"The rumors only scratch the surface. For ten years they made him live in the cupboard under the stairs. They starve him and they make him wear hand- me-down clothes. He was physically and mentally abused his entire childhood. Everyday they told him he was worthless and good for nothing. In his heart he believes that. His whole life is spent trying to prove he is worth something, but he can't convince himself.  
  
"Harry will take all the blame in the world onto himself if you don't stop him. You must have found a way to deal with Cedric or you wouldn't be with him. Cedric is just the tip of the iceberg. Harry holds himself responsible for everything Voldemort does because Voldemort used Harry's blood to come back to life. The fact that Voldemort had to kidnap him to do it, and took the blood by force is completely irrelevant to Harry.  
  
"Voldemort is afraid of Harry, and will do anything to get to him. Sometimes being around Harry is dangerous. Harry will do anything to get Voldemort too. You will have to be the voice of reason and even put yourself at risk to make him listen. Harry is brave and loyal and clever and will risk his life to save anyone and everyone. I can't tell you how many nights I've spent in the hospital worried sick about whether or not he was going to live."  
  
"Why are you telling me all of this?"  
  
"To give you a chance. This has been the quietest year Harry has had since he's been here. If you are going to stay with him, you need to know it's not going to be all sunshine and Quidditch. You are going to cry tears over Harry Potter. If you aren't going to stay with him, for his sake, leave him now while he has a chance to recover. It's not fair, I know, to make you decide less than a week after first getting together, but time is rarely a luxury for Harry."  
  
"If I tell you something, will you promise not to laugh?  
  
Hermione nodded. "I promise."  
  
"I want to be old with Harry Potter. You know how you see old couples in the park, feeding ducks or whatever, the really, really old ones? That is what I want to do with Harry Potter. I want to have his children and watch them grow up. I want to wear his shirts and eat waffles for breakfast on Saturday mornings… "  
  
Hermione grinned. "Okay, I get the picture."  
  
"I'm glad I could talk to you like this. My best friend hates Harry for some reason. She says she isn't going to talk to me until Harry and I break up. So far, only you and Madame Hooch seem to understand."  
  
"Your friend will come around. Ron isn't so happy about you either."  
  
"Is it about his sister?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "Yes, but it's kind of ironic since he never wanted Harry and Ginny to be together anyway."  
  
"Did Harry and Ginny ever…?"  
  
"No, like I said, you're the only girl Harry has ever noticed. Ginny has had a crush on him for almost six years, but he never even knew. After last year, Harry thought it was impossible for you and him to get together. Ginny, all of us really, just kind of assumed that they would finally get together. Harry never noticed though, and Ginny never told him."  
  
"How could Harry not know? The whole school knew."  
  
"That's Harry for you. I don't think he wanted to know. He believes that bad things happen to the people he cares about because of him. There is a good chance he will try to push you away the next time Voldemort attacks. He'll claim it's for your own safety. You can't let him isolate himself though. Don't let him push you away. He could be right too, you know. You could be in danger because of your involvement with him."  
  
"I suppose boredom will never really be an option."  
  
"Life with Harry is never boring."  
  
***  
  
Author's Note: Special thanks to Alex for beta reading. Additionally, I would like to thank all of you for your kind reviews. It is comforting to know someone else is reading this. More chapters to follow soon… If you are impatient waiting, I would like to take this opportunity to plug my other stories: "As Summers Go" and "Destiny and The Headmaster" They are very different stories from this one, but you might like them.  
  
*** 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Someone was trying to kill her. Cho knew it. Any single event could have been an accident, but there were just too many of them. There had been falling masonry, collapsing bookshelves, a rampaging suit of armor, exploding potions, a snake in the fruit bowl, and a Seeker-seeking Bludger. Hermione had told her life with Harry could be dangerous, but she hadn't expected immediate and random danger. How do you defend yourself against random events? It was making her paranoid.  
  
Harry was in the middle of exams. Steady, nagging pain from his scar made a normally stressful event almost unbearable. Cho could tell it was wearing him down. She did her best to comfort him, but nothing seemed to help. One more week and his exams would be over with. After that would be their Exhibition Match. Cho had no idea how Harry was going to fly feeling the way he did, but he insisted the match would go on.  
  
They had great hopes for this match. She, Harry, and Madame Hooch continued to meet a few times a week to talk strategy and tactics. The three of them continued to smooth out Harry's vision, and refine it. They worked on ways to search for the snitch while traveling at full velocity. They worked out new aerial maneuvers and acrobatics and ways to cutoff and isolate the other Seeker from the Snitch. Madame Hooch insisted that this was going to be the most revolutionary thing to happen to Quidditch since they quit using straw brooms.  
  
Cho came up with the idea to write everything down. She was sure that this would make a fantastic book. It would become one of the classic texts of Quidditch. She would be part of it. She was part of it. It was Harry's vision, but she influenced it. He considered all of her ideas with the same gravity that he gave to Madame Hooch's or even his own. Some he shot down, some he kept. If she questioned something of his, he would listen to her arguments, and if necessary they would test it in the air. There were only three sacred tenets: Keep moving; Keep the other Seeker guessing, and Catch the Snitch.  
  
There were just barely three weeks of school left. Cho was dreading the summer. She would have to go and face her mother. Harry would have to go back to those awful Muggles. She wouldn't see him for two whole months. She was desperately worried that something would happen to him and she wouldn't be there to help him. There was a pretty good chance that she wouldn't even be able to owl him, at least not directly. She and Hermione were working on a code and a relay system in case things got desperate.  
  
Harry had been her boyfriend for almost two months. She had seen him everyday. They ate their meals together. They studied together. Occasionally they made midnight excursions for a little extra time alone - Harry's list of good qualities did not include anything resembling respect for the rules. They had gone to Hogsmeade together and had romantic dinners. It was going to be hard to face eight long weeks without him. Even when his scar hurt him at his worst, and he was most overwhelmed with studies, his face always lit up into a smile when he saw her. She could not remember how she had ever managed to make it though a day without that smile.  
  
Harry's friend Ron had eventually come around and accepted her presence. If nothing else, he saw her as a tiebreaker in his frequent arguments over obscure points of Quidditch. Ron seemed happiest when he was arguing with someone, and Hermione seemed to be the one he enjoyed arguing with the most. Hermione had quickly become Cho's best confidant. Ellwyn was still not talking to her and Cho was almost positive that she was acting as an informant for her mother.  
  
She still had no idea who it was that wanted to kill her. Everyone but Ellwyn seemed to have gotten used to the idea of her and Harry as a couple, and she doubted Ellwyn would try to kill her over it. If the accidents happened to Harry, then maybe she would've considered Ellwyn, but everything seemed directed at her. She had suspected Ginny Weasley at first, but the latest rumor about her was that she had moved on and was seen in the company of that git Malfoy. That was not a rumor one repeated in the presence of Ron Weasley though unless you wanted a duel.  
  
The week that the O.W.L.s ended, things got more serious. Her broom exploded. She just happened to not be on it at the time, which was a miracle, because it happened in the middle of practice. She had landed to discuss a maneuver with Madame Hooch, and left her broom lying where she landed. That was also very uncharacteristic of her; she never just left her broom. She was glad she did this time though, because it suddenly burst into a million splinters.  
  
Some one was definitely trying to kill her. All of the other events could have been accidents, but this was unmistakably an attempt to kill her. If she had been flying when that had happened, even if the blast hadn't killed her, hitting the ground in excess of 150 kph would have. As if someone trying to kill her wasn't bad enough, now she had no broom for the match.  
  
When Harry found out he was frantic. Just as Hermione had told her he would, Harry instantly began to blame himself. Only a vicious snogging had managed to calm him down. They would be careful, whomever it was that was making the attempts was getting braver, and they would expose themselves soon. Cho promised Harry he could do whatever he wanted to their remains after she was done with them. Harry promised her he would be patient.  
  
The next day, Harry's scar pain stopped. Suddenly it had just faded. He had gone down to Hogsmeade station with Ron and Ginny, to see them off. Their brother Bill had been in some sort of accident and they were being allowed to leave early for their summer break. By the time Harry got back to the castle, the pain had receded. He seemed like a new man. Cho hadn't realized how much the pain had affected him until she saw him relieved from it.  
  
That evening, Harry asked her down to the broom shed and said it was important. He seemed very nervous. At the broom shed she found out why. He handed her a package that could only be a broom. Opening it, she discovered it was a Firebolt. Her eyes went wide in disbelief, and then closed again in sorrow.  
  
"Harry, I can't accept this."  
  
"You need a broom Cho. You deserve this broom. For the Match, we should be on equal brooms. Wait until you fly on it, you'll never be able to fly on anything else."  
  
"It's too much Harry, it wouldn't be right for me to take this from you."  
  
"I want you to have it though. It's my fault your old broom was destroyed."  
  
"You don't know that Harry. It's too much. This broom cost a fortune, I don't even know how you could have bought it."  
  
"I have money," said Harry, "I have a vault at Gringott's."  
  
"People will talk. They'll think you bought me."  
  
"They already talk. Some of them think I killed Cedric because you wouldn't go to the Yule Ball with me and put an Imperius curse on you to make you like me."  
  
Cho had heard that particular rumor, but she didn't know Harry had. He had never mentioned it. She knew that it must have hurt him to be accused of such a thing.  
  
"Isn't there a custom so that when guy wants everyone to know he's serious about a girl, he buys her a ring, or a bracelet, or something like that? Why can't this be that gift?"  
  
Cho shook her head. "Those are just trinkets, Harry. They are meant to express feelings. This is a professional broom. I would be taking advantage of your generosity if I accepted it."  
  
"I want you to have this broom Cho. I want you to experience the speed and the acceleration. I want you to know how it feels when the broom seems to read your mind. I want you to experience the sheer unfettered joy of flying at 250 kph. I want you to know because that's how you make me feel. Maybe other guys can express their feelings with a trinket, but not me. I need a Firebolt."  
  
And Madame Hooch had said he wasn't a poet. She buried herself in his arms. To hell with other people, to hell with mothers and friends and anyone else. She was gong to fly this broom until the last twig fell off, then she was going to re-twig it and fly it until those fell off too. He loved her. He hadn't used those words, but that was what he meant. If he could express his feeling best in terms of flying, she was just fine with that. He could take his time to find the words.  
  
Harry stayed on the ground and watched as she took her new broom on its maiden flight. Magic was too casual a word to describe the experience. What she had thought of as flying before paled in comparison to this. She accelerated to top speed and watch the ground flee beneath her. She pulled impossibly sharp climbs and dove downward at speeds that defied imagination. There were tears in her eyes. This was what he wanted her to know. This was how he said he felt about her.  
  
This soaring, sailing, streaming rush of emotion was what he wanted her to feel. He had wanted her to see the way the world blurred and faded until the only constants were herself and the place she wanted to go, the point of her desire. He had wanted her to share this experience that was too rarefied to be a mere sensation, but too physical to be simply sublime. He was a poet. He was an artist. He used the sky as his canvas, and raw existence as his paint. This was better than all the poetry in the world.  
  
She wanted to find a way to let Harry know that his feelings were not lost on her. She was a Ravenclaw. She lived in a world of books and words, but these things failed her now. She needed a way to express the profound happiness he had brought to her. She needed a way to show to show him the courage he had brought out of her. Nothing she had ever learned gave her the eloquence she needed to match this gift. She would have to invent new words, and a new language. He would know. Somehow she would find a way to make sure.  
  
The day of the match, the teams prepped themselves in separate ready rooms. Cho sat in the middle of her teammates, but felt very alone. Roger Davies was making one of his typical speeches. This would be his last game at Hogwarts, and he was glad to have one more chance than he should have to play with them. Cho ignored him. She had made her mental preparations in Madame Hooch's office with Harry before coming to join the others. Everyone seemed to think this was an elaborate setting for Harry to show off. They just didn't understand that Harry was the last person in the world to whom she would ever 'give' a Snitch.  
  
As soon as she was in the air, her teammates realized she was playing to win. Once the whistle was blown, what happened on the ground was forgotten. She was Cho the Seeker. At top speed, she buzzed the Gryffindor Beaters causing them to foul and yield a penalty to her team. Ravenclaw had the first score if nothing else.  
  
She and Harry began the intricate ballet of dividing the airspace into zones of control. It was a race to cover the most ground first. No longer did you sit and look for the Snitch, you hunted it at 250 kph. You had to do this while forcing your opponent down blind alleys. You had to know how to tell when the other Seeker was bluffing, and when he was actually on the Snitch. You had to convince the other seeker to chase you instead of looking for the Snitch himself. For good measure, you tried to cause havoc with the other team at the same time.  
  
She and Harry had developed these tactics together. Strictly speaking they were not lovers, but they loved each other and they knew each other with the deep familiarity created by that emotion. They each had a pretty good idea of how the other one thought. They were on identical, high-performance brooms. By all outward appearances this should be a match of equals.  
  
Harry started a zigzagging run down the pitch, and was pulling himself up high on his broom. Cho's heart sank. He had the Snitch already, and she was on the opposite side of the Pitch. There wasn't even going to be a chase. She yanked her broom around and made a dash for it anyway. Amazingly, she began to close on him. With ten meters to go, he suddenly banked hard left and made straight for a new patch of sky. He had faked the whole thing, and she had fallen for it.  
  
Furious, she resumed her search pattern, and flew almost directly into the Snitch. The small winged orb zipped past her before she even realized it was there. That was okay. She knew more about its location than Harry did. Making no sudden moves, she continued as if she was still sectoring the sky. There wasn't a whole lot space left in the direction the Snitch was moving, so it had to reverse soon and head the opposite way. She just had to guess its new altitude.  
  
She decided to go up. Even if the Snitch went down, height had its advantages. Gravity could give her extra acceleration, and it was easier to look down inconspicuously than it was to look up. Sure enough, the Snitch reversed its course and started its way back down the Pitch in a three dimensional 'z' pattern, as if it were a Navy Destroyer, trying to avoid mines. The time for subtlety was gone; she pitched forward and made her move.  
  
Suddenly Harry was there. She had no idea how he had managed it, she had been pretty sure he had been at the opposite end of the field. She threw her broom over to block his path. He was not going to take this Snitch from her. Harry swerved to avoid collision. She pointed herself back in the direction of the Snitch. Harry was already leveling out beside her. She was sure that Harry could teach birds a few things about flying. She gave herself a bit of altitude, and tried to use the acceleration of gravity to give her an edge. It helped but it wasn't enough. She started to do the math in her head to figure out how much altitude she would need to get the necessary edge. Harry rolled and broke high, anticipating a change in direction.  
  
Cho decided to stick with the Snitch a few more seconds in case Harry was wrong. He wasn't. The snitch changed directions almost entirely in the horizontal plane. It was now hugging the boundary of the pitch. Harry had taken the opportunity to gain much more altitude than the figure Cho had come up with to gain the necessary advantage. The only chance she had was to block his path of descent. Keeping her eye on Harry and the Snitch at the same time was starting to make her feel cross-eyed.  
  
Harry pulled himself up into a low crouch and inched his way forward on the broom. He passed the center of the broom's gravity and it tipped downward. Cho figured he was moving around 300 kph as he passed her. Her attempt to block probably would have worked against an ordinary Seeker, but Harry evaded it with a few simple course changes. He snatched the snitch out the air about two meters in front of her. Her biggest concern now was whether or not Harry would be able to decelerate before hitting the ground.  
  
Harry seemed to have already worked this out. As soon as he had the snitch in his hand, he threw his feet out from under him so that he was lying prone against the broom, hugging it against his body with one arm. Loosening his grip, his body slid further and further back on the broom until the center of balance changed in the opposite direction. The broom now tipped upwards and started to lose speed quickly. Harry pulled him self into a normal position and held up the Snitch. He had done it again.  
  
She cheered for him. Harry had out flown her. When tactics, and brooms, and knowledge of the opponent were all canceled out, the match came down to who was the better flier. In a match of flying ability, she felt no shame in losing to Harry. Consistently Harry came up with the creative solution to win the game. The things he thought of would never have occurred to her. That was his gift. The fact that Harry always had to come up with something creative to beat her was a compliment.  
  
She landed on the ground beside him and they threw their arms around each other. He gave her an enormous kiss. The entire school was watching and she didn't care. Madame Hooch escorted the two of them off of the field and into her office. Following close behind them were Ludo Bagman from the Ministry's department of Magical Games, Ian Horrigan who was manager for the Irish National Team, Anna Moran Manager for England and former Seeker, and finally Professor Dumbledore. Madame Hooch sat them all down and passed out Butterbeers.  
  
Mr. Horrigan offered to sign them immediately. Harry, who was still fifteen had to confess that he couldn't sign anything. Ludo Bagman offered to pull strings to get a waiver for him. He also hinted that he was more than willing to represent them professionally. Harry, remembering Fred and George's experiences with the man, held back stating he wished to consider all of his options. Cho followed suit.  
  
There was no doubt their concept had been a success. Mr. Horrigan and Ms. Moran went on at great lengths about it. If Harry and Cho would not sign yet, perhaps they would agree to come to some practices and explain their new strategies. Cho used the opportunity to push their book. This idea was warmly received, but still they wanted Harry and/or Cho to speak. Cho was going to have enough problems this summer without trying to throw Professional Quidditch into the mix. She explained that this was her final summer and her family had already made plans for her. That was more or less the truth.  
  
The desire to go was apparent on Harry's face. There was no reason he shouldn't go; it had been his brainchild after all. Professor Dumbledore interceded though, explaining that arrangements had been made for Harry as well. Perhaps arrangements could be made for a day or two later in the summer, Professor Dumbledore would contact them at a later date if it were possible. Harry looked as if someone had died. Mr. Horrigan and Ms. Moran promised to stay in touch. Mr. Bagman left with Professor Dumbledore. Harry and Cho stayed in their seat.  
  
Madame Hooch tried to cheer them up. "How many Seekers your age have the managers of National teams trying sign them before they even leave school. I told you that you were going to be big. This is just the start. Wait until you finish that book."  
  
"She's right you know," said Cho. "We only proved the concept today. We have forever for the rest. We succeeded. They love us."  
  
Harry smiled. "You're right, of course. Good game by the way. A couple times I thought you had me for sure."  
  
"Exactly when was that?" asked Cho, " I thought it was you the whole time."  
  
"It was pretty funny when the Snitch practically flew in your face. I thought I was a goner for sure that time. I was lucky."  
  
"I didn't know you saw that, I was wondering how you ended up on top of me so soon. I was peeved about that feint you made. Climbing up on your broom and reaching for nothing."  
  
Madame Hooch laughed. "I thought Potter had lost it."  
  
"It worked though. I figured out that what was wrong with feints is that people fly too straight. When you're really on a Snitch, there's always a lot of weaving and such. I had been saving that one for a rainy day."  
  
"No more Firebolt advantage got you down, Potter?" asked Madame Hooch.  
  
"Not even a little," Harry smiled, "If anyone deserves a Firebolt, it's Cho. I don't mind working harder for my Snitches. I rather like it actually."  
  
They broke up and went for showers. Harry and Cho agreed to meet later. They had four nights left before the term ended. Cho had always looked forward to summers before, now she wished June to be immediately followed by September. She had important work to do though.  
  
On the train to King's Cross they shared a compartment with Hermione. Cho spent the entire time in Harry's arms. They promised to owl as often as possible. Cho and Hermione explained to him their code and relay system. Cho made him promise that no matter how bad things got he would tell her about them. When Hermione fell asleep, they used the opportunity for some last minute snogging.  
  
Cho's parents were both waiting for her at the platform. She had hoped to have a minute or two at least before they came. Before stepping off the passenger car, she gave Harry one last kiss. She made sure her mother saw. Furious at her display, they immediately escorted her out of the station. Twisting her head, Cho watched until Harry disappeared from view.  
  
***  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Special thanks to Alex, Amy and Kensai. I would also like to thank everyone who has reviewed. You've all been far too kind. I've had a chance to read some of your stories and you guys make me feel inferior. If I haven't read & reviewed yours yet, it's just a matter of time.  
  
Chapter six should be out in a day or two. I have some reworking in mind, so it might be delayed a bit. Cho, Harry, and Hermione have a brush with evil and Cho and Harry finally get some quality time alone.  
  
Until next time…  
  
*** 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Cho's mother was every bit as furious as expected. For the entire trip home her mother lectured her and Cho tried her best to tune it all out. She was seventeen now and her mother still treated her as if she were eight. Cho had plenty to say to her mother, but she wasn't going to say it in the car. Home was much better. She wasn't sure how her father would react. He usually went along with whatever her mother said and rarely expressed his own opinions. He might very well get upset about this and she didn't want that to happen while he was driving.  
  
Her mother's arguments seemed to come down to the fact that Cho was spending entirely too much time on Quidditch and not enough on more important things. Exactly which 'more important things' was never made clear. Cho's grades were still as impeccable as they had ever been. Cho knew what her mother was really afraid of, and it was already too late for that.  
  
The other thing that irked her mother was Harry Potter. Now Cho knew beyond doubt that Ellwyn had betrayed her. It had been one thing, her mother insisted, when she had dated Cedric. He had been a nice young man from a good family and with a good future ahead of him. This Potter was an orphan. He had no future, no family, no respect for authority, and no prospects. He would take advantage of her given the opportunity.  
  
Inwardly Cho laughed. She recalled giving Harry plenty of opportunities to do just that and he had stubbornly remained quite the gentleman. It was probably something she was going to have to hit him upside the head with. That wasn't something she was going to share with her mother though. The recollection of it, however, definitely helped to makes the kilometers pass quickly.  
  
Once home, Cho decided to wait until dinner the next day to break her news. Immediately she sent an owl out to Harry and another to Hermione. Her mother hadn't thought to cut off owl communication yet, but it was probably only a matter of time. Harry responded back quickly that everything was fine, and wished her luck. She missed him already. They really should have spent more time on the train snogging. Cho busied herself with the manuscript for their book.  
  
The next day Cho found herself a bundle of nervous energy. It was one thing to tell yourself you were going to standup to your mother, but it was another thing entirely to actually do it. All day long she paced and went over what she wanted to say in her head, mentally trying to prepare herself for her mother's objections.  
  
The hours of the day staggered and surged towards dinnertime. Cho sat down at the table exhausted. It had easily been one of the longest days of her life. "Mother, Father," she started, "There are some things I want to talk about."  
  
Her father only raised his eyebrows, but her mother did not look very happy at all. Cho took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was far too late to back out now, from now on she would no longer be Cho the Passenger, she was going to be Cho the Driver.  
  
"I've made some decisions about my future. You may not like some of them, or any of them, but I'm an adult now, or I will be soon, and there are certain things I have to do for myself. First, I am not going to be a doctor. I never wanted to be a doctor. I was only doing it because it was expected of me." Her mother dropped her teacup.  
  
Not wanting to lose her momentum, Cho continued, "I've been offered the chance to play Quidditch for England or Ireland. Out of respect for you, and for other reasons, I refused this year. Next year I plan to accept."  
  
"You will do no such thing! Your father and I have worked very hard to ensure a proper future for you, and you will respect our wishes." Cho could not remember ever seeing such a furious expression on her mother's face. The look was calculated to wither Cho's impertinence and it was having the desired effect. Cho knew she had to continue quickly, or her mother would take over.  
  
"Quiet Lai, let Cho finish." Cho was in shock. Her father just told her mother to be quiet. He had never done that before, at least not when Cho was around. Cho seized the opportunity  
  
"There is also only one possible condition under which I will marry a doctor. That condition is for Harry Potter to be the doctor, and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for him to enter medical school. I don't know what Ellwyn has told you or why, but it wasn't true. Well, the part about him being an orphan was true, but that's hardly his fault."  
  
"So," her father asked calmly, "You are going to chose England aren't you?"  
  
Cho's mother looked like her head was about to explode. Cho was rather dazed herself. Her father was taking her side. He was opposing her mother. Nothing like this had ever happened before.  
  
"You aren't actually encouraging her in this are you?" spat her mother, "What about all the plans we've made?"  
  
"Those were your plans Lai, not mine or Cho's for that matter. We can't very well make her be a doctor, can we? Cho is right, she has to make her own decisions."  
  
"But she wants to play a game! She thinks she's going to be a teenager forever."  
  
"She is exceptionally good at that game too, from what I hear. If it weren't for this Potter fellow, she would have won the Cup for Ravenclaw at least twice by now."  
  
"And that's another thing. Harry Potter, he isn't even Chinese."  
  
"Neither are we. My passport says United Kingdom. I'm English and I have scars and a Distinguished Service Cross from my time in the Navy to show anyone that claims otherwise. I'm not so sure about marriage just yet, but if Cho wants to see Harry, I don't have a problem with that. He really should come around and introduce himself, you know. It's the proper thing to do."  
  
"I didn't think he would be welcome. I told him not to bother."  
  
"He isn't welcome in my house."  
  
"Lai, if Cho is serious, he's going to have to be welcome sooner or later. If you keep this up you won't even get to see you grandchildren." Her father gave her a wink.  
  
"Grandchildren?" her mother choked. She then started in the dialect of Chinese she spoke that Cho didn't understand, and stormed out of the room.  
  
"What is she saying?" Cho asked.  
  
"I have no idea, " her father shrugged, "I can't understand a word of it either. She'll calm down eventually. It's just going to take a while for her to get used to this."  
  
Cho was awestruck, this was a side of her father she had never seen before. "Why haven't you said anything before about this?"  
  
"I thought you wanted to be a doctor. I thought you wanted to be like your mother. If that's what you wanted, who was I to argue? When you wanted to play Quidditch, I made sure you got a broom didn't I? "  
  
Cho owled Harry the good news. They settled into a new routine of owling at least twice a day. Hedwig and Clark were in the air almost continuously. Harry's summer was typical he said, lots of work, not so much food, he was locked in his room most of the time. Cho did her best to cheer him up. She still found it hard to believe that Professor Dumbledore would not only allow, but insist on his returning there each summer. The bright spot of his summer was when he was allowed to visit the Weasleys during the last weeks of summer. He hoped that he would be able to visit her during that time period, or at the very least they could visit Diagon Alley on the same day.  
  
She missed Harry terribly. Carefully Cho marked each day off the calendar, but the number of days until they would be reunited seemed to grow no smaller. She coped by throwing all of her attention towards their book. With constant her constant effort, it slowly began to take shape. She needed Harry to fill in some parts and clarify some diagrams, but she expected to have a completed initial draft by the time they returned to Hogwarts.  
  
For as long as she could remember, Cho had passed her summers along with Ellwyn. It was true that their friendship had waned somewhat since they had been sorted into different houses, but Cho had always enjoyed her company. She was still furious at Ellwyn for her betrayal, but she missed her friend. Alienated as she was from her mother, Cho found herself lonely.  
  
In many ways, Hermione had become her new best friend. They visited at least once a week, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't as convenient as having her neighbor as her friend. She and Hermione shared a link through Harry, but they didn't have the history of having grown up together.  
  
For Harry's Birthday she sent him a framed photograph taken at the end of their exhibition match. In the photograph Cho was throwing her arms around him and kissing him. It was a moment she liked to relive. Harry wrote back in thanks. He said he loved the picture almost as much as her. She wondered if it was just a quirk of language, or if he was trying to break into the idea slowly. Cho knew he loved her, just as she loved him. It gave her a warm feeling – the word would come when they came.  
  
Summer waned and autumn approached. In another week, Harry would be allowed to visit the Weasleys'. He had also gotten permission to visit her at least once, possibly more at the discretion of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. When she brought the subject up to her parents her mother reluctantly agreed. A date was set for the second Sunday in August. Cho was ecstatic.  
  
Harry's arrival at the Weasley home should have been a happy occasion, instead it became another thing entirely. Harry's headaches returned with a vengeance. Harry's handwriting had become barely legible. He insisted though, that he would make it for their dinner if he had to crawl there. Hermione, who was also visiting the Weasleys, sent Cho an owl telling her to prepare for the worst. Harry was looking quite ragged she said, and this was not the best time for him to try and impress her parents.  
  
Cho was beside herself with anxiety. This wasn't fair. She had patiently waited all summer to see Harry. If Harry couldn't come to her, then she would to go to the Weasley residence to see him. Hermione visited her in person to advise against that. Ginny Weasley had set up a watch over Harry, who was quite incapable of resisting, and wouldn't let anyone else near him, including Mrs. Weasley. The mere mention of Cho's name induced violence, if Cho were to actually go there, who knew what would happen.  
  
Cho couldn't believe this. That Weasley girl was holding Harry hostage. Cho was ready to commit acts of violence herself. The audacity of it all! Taking advantage of Harry's pain to try and steal him away, what could that girl be thinking? Hermione promised she would do her best to get Harry to Cho. Cho had no choice but to wait in frustration.  
  
On the specified Sunday, instead of a visit from Harry, she got a letter and a port key from Hermione. She used the port key without even thinking and landed outside a small country cottage. When she knocked on the door it was answered by Professor Lupin, the former Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. Inside she found Hermione, a large black dog, and the sleeping form of Harry stretched out on the sofa.  
  
Harry looked terrible. He was pale and thin and looked as if he had escaped from a Concentration Camp. Cho knelt by his side and wept. Harry was sleeping soundly. She started to try and wake him, but Hermione stopped her.  
  
"We gave him a sleeping potion," said Hermione, "We figured he needed it."  
  
"How did you get him here? Wherever here is."  
  
"That's kind of complicated," answered Hermione grimly, "This is Professor Lupin's house. He was a friend of Harry's parents. Something was wrong at the Weasleys'. I don't know what, but it was very bad for Harry. No one would listen to me, so I owled S… Professor Lupin and asked for help. We kind of kidnapped him. Harry's location really needs to remain a secret but I thought you should have a chance to see him."  
  
"Thank you," Cho replied, "I really wouldn't have been able to handle him disappearing and not knowing. Do you have an owl? I need to tell my parents I won't be coming home. I won't tell them anything else, I promise."  
  
Hermione turned with a questioning look to Professor Lupin, and then, oddly enough, to the dog.  
  
"Don't even think you're going to get me to leave here before I know Harry is alright."  
  
The dog wagged his tail and barked. Professor Lupin brought her parchment and a quill. Cho hastily scribbled a note and handed it back to him. Cho then sat down on the floor beside Harry and waited.  
  
"It'll be hours you know," said Professor Lupin, "you could sit in a chair for a while, perhaps have a cup of tea?"  
  
"I'm fine right here," insisted Cho, "but the tea would be nice."  
  
Hermione and Professor Lupin tried to make small talk with her, but Cho wasn't interested in talking about anything but Harry. She wanted to know all the details of what happened at the Weasleys', how long he was left alone with the Weasley girl, had they tried purgatives in case he was poisoned? Had they checked for signs of dark magic? And by the way, who was the dog?  
  
"Professor Lupin's pet, " answered Hermione quickly.  
  
"Bullocks," said Cho, "That's an Animagus. I don't know who he is, but he's obviously someone important to Harry or he wouldn't be here. His name starts with an 'S'. Any friend of Harry's is a friend of mine, so you might as well change into a human and have some tea."  
  
The outline of the dog blurred from canine into human. Where the large black dog had been, there was now a thin, wiry man with jet-black hair. He was quite handsome actually, with a wicked grin that could only mean trouble. "Sirius Black, Harry's godfather," he introduced himself, "at your service."  
  
Cho knew that name. It was in the papers quite frequently. Cho knew that at least part of the story was false, because she knew Harry's version of the TriWizard Competition. If Harry was here with Hermione and Professor Lupin, that probably meant the rest of it was false as well. Probably.  
  
"There has to be a really good story behind this." Cho tried to remain calm.  
  
"There is in fact," answered Sirius as he eased himself into the chair she had refused, "a long and mostly unbelievable story behind this. Harry said you were smart, he wasn't kidding."  
  
"I hope," said Cho with false bravado, "He had something to say about me other than that I was smart."  
  
"A great deal actually. Harry only seems to be able to speak on two subjects – you and Quidditch," Sirius said dryly, "If you really want to get him going, all you have to do is bring up you and Quidditch together. Then he turns into one of those wind-up toy monkeys. If it wasn't Harry doing it, you simply wouldn't be able to bear being in the same room with him."  
  
Cho smiled and started to relax. "I hope I'm not that bad."  
  
"You are," insisted Hermione, "but it's for a good cause so we pretend not to notice."  
  
"So this is the whole "We love Harry" club?"  
  
"Ordinarily, there would be at least one Weasley present," said Hermione, "but they have understandably divided loyalties at the moment."  
  
"Since I'm the newest member here, can I ask a few questions?" No one objected, so she continued. "How did he get like this? Was it at his Muggle relatives, or at the Weasleys'?"  
  
Hermione "Mostly at the Dursleys'. Summers are very hard on Harry. Normally he gets a chance to recover at the Burrow. This year that only made things worse."  
  
"If these Muggles do this to him, why does Professor Dumbledore make him go back there? He does know how bad this is, doesn't he?"  
  
"He knows," answered Hermione, "but still he insists. Professor Dumbledore says that the safest place for Harry to be is with his relatives. Only he knows why though, and he isn't telling anyone."  
  
"You're his godfather," Cho said turning to Sirius, "Can't you intervene?"  
  
"My legal standing is rather dicey," replied Sirius, " The only reason I am still free is because of Professor Dumbledore. He has a reason, even though I don't understand it or agree with it. One doesn't violate the trust of Professor Dumbledore lightly."  
  
"But you did it today," observed Cho.  
  
"It wasn't done lightly. Hermione was distressed enough to insist. I trusted her judgement. When I got there it was enough to make me take matters into my own hands."  
  
"What was she doing to him?"  
  
"That's the thing," answered Sirius, "She wasn't doing anything more to him than you are. She was fussing and doting over him like he was a child. Harry looked like he had a Cruciatus Curse on him though. Hermione insisted he had to get out of the house. So I took him. As soon as he got here, he seemed to get better, so Hermione must have known what she was talking about."  
  
"Ginny was the cause of his pain," said Hermione "but I don't think she realized it. Maybe she did though, and just liked being able to look after Harry. Sort of a self fulfilling fantasy: Harry wasn't well, so she got to take care of him and the more she took care of him, the less well he was."  
  
"Last term, Harry's headaches went away when Ron and Ginny left. I had no reason to connect the two events at the time."  
  
"I forgot all about that, " said Hermione, "I don't know how, but I think Tom Riddle has taken over Ginny's mind again."  
  
"Tom Riddle?" asked Cho.  
  
"Again?" asked Sirius.  
  
Hermione told the story of Ginny's first year, the diary, and the Chamber of Secrets. "There is a difference this time. Voldemort is alive and well now. I believe there is some sort of resonance between the real Voldemort and the image that lives in Ginny's head."  
  
"So what are we going to do?" asked Cho.  
  
"We are going to give Harry a day or two to recover," answered Sirius, "then we're going to contact Professor Dumbledore. Harry will stay here until school starts."  
  
The conversation dwindled, but Cho remained at Harry's side all evening, leaving only for the barest of necessities. Professor Lupin turned in around ten. Around eleven or so, Sirius sent Hermione to sleep in his own bed. Quilts and pillows were brought for Cho to make herself comfortable. Cho made no effort to use them.  
  
"He'll be furious with you if you don't get at least a little sleep," Sirius insisted. "Get some rest. I'll sit up and watch him."  
  
"What if he wakes up and I'm asleep?" answered Cho, "I'm willing to risk a little anger." She wasn't budging.  
  
"I'm glad he has you," said Sirius, "Harry needs someone like you. The fact that you're beautiful, intelligent, and the second best Seeker on the planet is strictly bonus."  
  
Cho blushed at his words. "He knows I love him, doesn't he? We haven't exactly used that word yet, but he knows doesn't he?"  
  
"He knows," Sirius assured her, "He feels the same way about you too, you know. You're the only thing he talks about."  
  
"And Quidditch, don't forget about Quidditch."  
  
"I'm pretty sure you're ahead of Quidditch. You're both very, very good you know. I saw your last two games. I was a Beater myself, and never one to let fancy flying or strategy get in the way knocking someone out with a Bludger, but I know enough to know that you two are brilliant."  
  
"I'm good, but Harry is a genius. Harry can do anything on a broom, and he will do anything to catch a Snitch."  
  
"You give him a run for his money, and that isn't easy – even when you have a Firebolt."  
  
"You aren't angry about that are you?"  
  
Sirius shook his head. "No, I was a little at first, not with you, but with Harry. It is his money though, and he is practically an adult."  
  
"I was angry at him at first too, I refused to accept it. He convinced me though. It was one of his more eloquent moments."  
  
"Is this something I really want to know about?" Sirius asked with a grin.  
  
"I would never tell you anyway," insisted Cho, "It was words though, nothing else. Occasionally, his inner poet breaks through. There's a side of Harry that no one suspects. Everyone thinks he's all scar and Firebolt, but he is much deeper than everyone gives him credit for."  
  
"You Ravenclaws are a good influence then. When I talk to him I always seem to get one or two-word answers."  
  
Cho had nodded off and never responded. Sirius covered her with a blanket and put a pillow behind her head. She awoke startled to find the morning sun in her face and stiff from being on the floor for so long. She stood up and stretched her aching muscles then checked on Harry, who was still sleeping. She padded quietly to the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea then returned and sat back on the floor beside Harry.  
  
Around 7:30 Professor Lupin came down and started breakfast. The smell of food woke Harry up, and he immediately sat up. His sudden movement scared Cho so badly that she almost spilled her tea. When she realized he was awake, she practically threw herself on top of him. The sudden relief of worry had her almost in tears.  
  
Once Harry figured out where he was and more or less how he got there, he was in good spirits. Cho continuously stuffed him with food until he absolutely couldn't eat anymore. He had at least a dozen questions, but everyone had agreed that nothing serious would be discussed for at least twenty-four hours. Harry insisted he felt quite well, ready for anything, but Cho remained firm and no one was willing to argue with her.  
  
For lunch, Cho arranged a picnic under the shade tree in Professor Lupin's front yard. At the last minute everyone else became mysteriously busy. Transparent as it might have been, Cho was thankful for the time alone. After weeks of separation and the anxiety of the past few days, there was nothing she wanted more than to be alone with Harry.  
  
Hermione had told her she would cry tears over Harry, but it had just seemed like hyperbole then. The reality of the situation was much harder than Cho had ever imagined. She had been lucky this time, but what about next time? How many more next times would there be? There were some risks she just couldn't take. Having made up her mind, she spoke, "Harry, I have something to tell you."  
  
Harry looked at her with a worried expression. "It's not bad, " she smiled, "I just don't want you to feel pressured, or rushed, or any of that. After everything that has happened, I have to say this for me. Yesterday, I faced the possibility of losing you, and I was terrified. If I were to lose you, I would continue to exist, but it would not be living. You are my source of strength and courage. I love you Harry Potter. Whatever else happens in the world, I want you to know that I love you. As long as I exist in this world or the next, you will have that."  
  
Harry's face began to quiver. He started to speak, but Cho silenced him with a kiss. Harry persisted though and eventually managed to pull away long enough to speak. "Cho, what did I ever do to deserve you? You are brilliant and beautiful and you fly like a bird. Any guy in the world would give an arm to be with you, and you chose me. I can't understand why you would choose to love me above all others, but I am so glad that you do. Without you, I would be a shadow. You are my patronus, in the delirium of pain and nightmares and darkness that follows me, you are the soft voice in my soul that makes it bearable. You are my love, Cho. For as long as I am capable, I will love you."  
  
On the front lawn, beneath a tree, in front of a cottage, behind a hedgerow, they sat in each other's arm until the brilliant summer day faded into a brilliant summer evening. For dinner they joined the others. The five of them had a happy friendly dinner. For a time, there was no darkness, there was no evil, there was only food, and laughter, and love.  
  
The next day, Hermione explained her theory to Harry. He agreed that it was a logical conclusion, so Professor Dumbledore was summoned. Professor Dumbledore listened carefully to their arguments, and agreed to investigate. He was most distressed over the entire situation. Reluctantly he agreed that Harry could stay where he was for the remainder of the summer break. His location was to remain a secret though.  
  
Professor Dumbledore returned two hours later saying he had found nothing amiss at the Weasleys. All of the Weasleys were most concerned over Harry's welfare however and requested Hermione, Harry, and even Cho to come for dinner. Professor Dumbledore thought it would be gracious of them to attend. If Ginny were in fact the cause of Harry's pain, he would be there to the witness the fact and would ensure that Harry was immediately removed. They had no choice but to agree.  
  
Cho and Hermione prepared for the worst. They found, instead, a perfectly normal Weasley household. Ginny greeted all of them with a million-galleon smile. Harry's scar didn't even twitch. They were completely at a loss. It was apparent something was going on though, because not a single mention was made of the entire affair, not even a single questioning look. Ginny even made a little speech about the importance of Harry's happiness. It was too much. Cho wanted to run away screaming.  
  
Back at Professor Lupin's they had to admit they had been out-maneuvered. A strange owl landed with a note for Hermione. The note read "You and the Ravenclaw bitch will have to try harder than that." There was no signature. Harry was apoplectic. Hermione and Cho were both in danger now and there was nothing he could do about it. Tom had found some way to hide himself within Ginny and only takeover when he wanted.  
  
During the day Sirius and Remus had cleared space in the attic for Harry and his things. Hermione returned to her parent's house depressed. She promised to visit every day. Cho insisted she was staying at least one more night. Neither Sirius or Professor Lupin objected, and gave her bedding to sleep on the sofa where Harry had slept the night before. Cho took a shower, and borrowed one of Harry's robes.  
  
When at last the two older men had gone to bed, Cho suggested Harry show her his new attic room. Harry, not really sure what there was to see, obliged. It was exactly what one would expect an attic room to look like. Ancient low rafters, darkened by dust and age arched to a peak overhead. There was a window on one wall, through which one could watch the moon and stars travel across the sky. To one side, had been set up a small bed, a table with a lamp and Harry's chest. Hanging from one of the rafters was Hedwig's cage.  
  
Harry took the opportunity to tend to Hedwig, giving her fresh food and water. Once done he stroked feathers, gave her treats and made soft cooing noises at her. Cho watched attentively but she had other things on her mind.  
  
"I have to go back home tomorrow," Cho started, "I'll come back to visit as soon as I can though."  
  
"I don't know what I'll do without you here," answered Harry. He was still stroking Hedwig's feathers. "I've thought of a few more tactics for the book," he said as he closed and covered Hedwig's cage.  
  
"Harry, I don't want to talk about Quidditch right now."  
  
Harry made a surprised noise and turned around. He made an even more surprised noise. The robe Cho had borrowed was on the floor. A look of amazement spread across Harry face. He looked as if his knees were about to give way. "Cho, you're beautiful."  
  
Cho felt as jittery as Harry looked. She motioned for him to come to her and he immediately obeyed. Soon two of Harry's robes were on the floor. "Harry, you're beautiful too." She brought her lips to his. Beautiful or not, she was tired of talking.  
  
This kiss was so different from everything she had known previously, it deserved a name of its own. Her body molded into his. He radiated so much warmth, she felt cold when she pulled away from him. He pulled her tightly against himself. His hands lightly brushed her skin, making tentative forays into regions previously forbidden. She felt as if she were dissolving into him, her inside melted and she had the sensation of falling; No, not falling, diving and high speed on a Firebolt.  
  
She was flying. Gently he laid her down and the fire that had been a low rumble became a crackling flame. She became an entity of senses. Harry enveloped her. Everything that she could see, hear, taste, touch, or smell was Harry. He was endless, she flew into him, and no matter how far she went there was more.  
  
What seemed an eternity later and nothing would ever convince her that less than a year had passed, she lay with her head on Harry's bare chest, watching the rise and fall of his sleeping breath. She had always heard that the first time would be anti-climactic. Perhaps it was a matter of magic, or maybe poetry, or visualization. It had been everything she had hoped it would be and more. There was a realness to this that she had never imagined. It was one of life's mysteries, she decided, and one that she was content to leave a mystery.  
  
This had not been planned. She had wanted it, but not expected anything to happen for some time, maybe Christmas. Something inside had told her to seize this moment though. Harry hadn't even seen it coming. What would this change between them? Harry was still overwhelmed by the emotions. Still, he did not feel that he deserved love. She'd practically had to hit him over the head with it. He was learning though. Earlier the poet had even made a cameo. He had even done it mentioning flying only once.  
  
She had realized that life, their lives in particular, were fragile. There was too much chance that something would take Harry away from her. She hoped and prayed that it would not happen, but she had to accept that it was possible. If she were to lose Harry, she wanted him to know, whether it was his last breath or hers, she wanted him to know that she loved him completely and without reserve. She had needed to know it too.  
  
In the morning she woke to find Harry staring at her much the same way she had stared at him the night before. She smiled at him and kissed him. "Good morning," she said. Harry traced the outline of her face with his fingers and kissed her back. Waking up next to your love, Cho discovered, was even better than falling asleep beside him.  
  
"I was afraid you wouldn't be here when I woke," said Harry.  
  
"Where else would I be?"  
  
"I thought maybe you would hate me, or maybe this was all too much for you…"  
  
"I will never hate you Harry. Ever. I love you. If ever I am not with you, it is not by my choice. When I am apart from you, it's as if part of myself is missing."  
  
He kissed her again, and crushed her to his chest. "I do not understand what could ever make me worthy of such love. I'm worried that you'll suddenly discover you've made a mistake, and that you'll stop feeling this way for me. I couldn't bear that. I need you so much now. I love you and I need you and I am afraid. You are in danger because of me, and I should run from you, but I can't. I'm too weak. I'll do anything to keep you near me. All I can do is love you, and try to be worthy of your love."  
  
Cho kissed his forehead, then his brow, and continued until she reached his lips. She lingered there as that warm, melting feeling came over her again. She would spend her life to prove to him that he was worthy - supremely worthy. She did not understand how it was that she was worthy of such love either. If there were karma, her previous self must have been a saint. She began to lose herself in him again. It was different this time, more physical and more immediate.  
  
Eventually hunger and thirst drove them out of bed and out to face the world. She really needed to get home before her parents spontaneously burst into flames. She got to watch Harry dress which was an unexpectedly wonderful thing. She assembled her own clothes to make her self as presentable as possible. Neither Sirius nor Professor Lupin were around, but there was tea and breakfast set out for them. She realized that they knew she had spent the night with Harry, and had tactfully excused themselves. She was very glad of that, she hadn't really thought this far ahead in her hasty plans.  
  
After breakfast was done, she helped Harry with the dishes. They did everything as slowly as possible, knowing that when they were done, she would have to leave. It was easy to imagine, if just for a few minutes. That this was there house, that it was perfectly normal for her to wake up with Harry, profess her undying love for him, eat breakfast, and wash dishes. Someday, this would be their life, but not yet. Once the chores were done, she kissed him passionately and stepped through the flue.  
  
Harry had rarely felt more alone in his life. He went out to sit under the shade tree in the front yard and found Sirius already there with a grin more suited for a cat that had just eaten a canary, than someone who spent the better part of his days in the form of a large black dog.  
  
"I assume she's gone then."  
  
Harry nodded and sat down with his back against the tree.  
  
"You want to be alone?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Nope," answered Harry, "I don't think I've ever wanted to be less alone in my life."  
  
"Bloody marvelous feeling isn't it?" Sirius gave him a nudge on the shoulder  
  
"Not wanting to be alone?" Harry's reply was automatic, but inwardly he was trying to convince his heart that it really should start beating again.  
  
"You know that's not what I meant." An awkward silence hung in the air. Even the summer breeze, the birds and the buzz of insects seemed to fade away. It seemed as if the whole world was waiting to hear Harry's response.  
  
Harry went completely crimson. "So you know?"  
  
"You two weren't exactly quiet. I guess it's too late for the birds and the bees lecture now…"  
  
"I think I've got that figured out now." Harry began to breathe a bit easier and his heart rate returned to something like normal.  
  
"So you used precautions, right?" Sirius hoped he wasn't blushing as badly as Harry was. Being a godfather had suddenly become a lot more difficult. He missed the good old days of just wondering whether of not Harry was alive and in one piece.  
  
"Yes!" Harry answered defensively, "We all got the official lecture from Madame Pomfrey. There's no way I would ever make Cho face that woman. I can't believe you even asked me that!"  
  
"It's my duty as you're godfather to ask. You've taken a big step and there's responsibility that goes along with it. I haven't been able to be much of a father to you, I know, but this is important, it's part of manhood. Believe me, I'd much rather be hearing this as one of James' stories over a pint than doing it myself."  
  
Harry remained silent. The wind, the birds, and insects resumed their regularly scheduled blowing, chirping, and buzzing. Sirius exhaled a sigh of relief. "You're lucky you know…"  
  
"The luckiest guy in the world. I keep expecting to wake up and find it was all just a dream."  
  
"She's lucky too, and I know for a fact she feels the same way. I haven't seen two people look at each other the way you do since James and Lily. Love like that is rare. Take care of her, Harry, or you'll regret it for the rest of your life."  
  
Harry leaned back against the tree and took a deep breath. Finally he relaxed and answered. "I know…"  
  
***  
  
Author's Note:  
  
This was a very difficult chapter to write, and I couldn't have done it nearly so well without the help Alex and Amy. I was ready to excise the final conversation with Sirius until Amy showed me how to turn it from the pitiful dangling thing it was into its current amazing state.  
  
Once again, I would like to thank all of you who left reviews – especially those who, chapter after chapter, continue to praise this story (Tarawen, and merlin come immediately to mind). All of that praise could go to a guy's head. Fortunately enough, I am absolutely addicted to this story too, and although I know what's going to happen, I don't know exactly how it's going to happen, or about any of those special little moments along the way. I have to write it to find out.  
  
Next chapter is not for the squeamish… Cho turns up missing, Voldemort finally makes an appearance and things go downhill from there… See you again soon.  
  
*** 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
September 1st was a long awaited reunion for Cho and Harry. On returning home, Cho had found herself grounded for the duration of the summer. 'What were you thinking?' had quickly made its way to the top of the list of questions Cho hated to hear. If she had it to do over again however, she wouldn't have done a single thing differently. This was the last time her mother would be able to exert such influence over her and that thought along with the prospect of seeing Harry again made the days bearable.  
  
Onboard the Hogwarts Express Cho and Harry shared a private compartment with Hermione and Ron. An awkward silence hung in the air and conversations were clipped and disjointed. Whenever Cho or Harry made some overt gesture of affection, Ron cringed and suddenly became interested in the ceiling, forgetting whatever it was he was talking about. Neither Cho nor Harry really seemed to notice, but Hermione was decidedly uncomfortable with the whole situation.  
  
An indeterminate time into the trip, the door to their compartment opened to reveal Draco Malfoy with Ginny Weasley attached to his arm. Ron blanched, turning several shades of pale. Everyone else seemed to snap into awareness as if they had been slumbering.  
  
"Potter, Mudblood!" cried Draco, as if he were meeting old friends.  
  
"Don't forget the Ravenclaw bitch," laughed Ginny.  
  
"Tell me Potter, did you buy her with that broom, or just lease her?" asked Draco.  
  
With Seeker reflexes, Harry had his wand out in an instant. Cho, with equally amazing speed, pulled his hand down. "It's not worth it Harry."  
  
"Ask Ginny why she closes her eyes when she kisses you," said Hermione, "ask her whose face she really sees…" She instantly regretted even opening her mouth  
  
Ginny expression turned black. "Granger, you are number two on my list. I would sleep lightly if I were you..." She turned and left, dragging Draco with her. Ron, who looked quite ill, got up quietly and left the compartment.  
  
Harry sat with his head leaned back against the wall of the compartment. Cho knew that look. It was the scar again. Hermione looked guilty and ashamed. Cho reached over and took her hand for a second to let her know that it was okay. It had been an honest reaction, and one that Cho was inclined towards herself. That Weasley girl was dangerous, and the company of Malfoy made it worse. Her first priority was to comfort Harry though. She pulled him down and cradled his head in her lap.  
  
"She's free to do whatever she wants now that she's fooled Professor Dumbledore. No one will believe us." Hermione sounded desperate.  
  
"We'll find a way," said Cho, "We just have to be very careful until we do."  
  
"If I'm number two, I suppose you're number one."  
  
Cho nodded. "Last year she tried to make everything look like an accident, I wonder if she'll bother this year."  
  
"You're probably pretty safe in Ravenclaw Tower," said Hermione.  
  
"But Harry can't come there. What is safety without Harry? I am not going to cower in my common room and let Ginny Weasley or Tom Riddle or anyone else torture Harry. Sooner or later she's going to slip up and reveal herself."  
  
On the surface, things at Hogwarts appeared perfectly placid. If one looked closer however, one could see that the dynamics were changing. Old friendships were broken and new ones were formed that followed no obvious rhyme or reason. Ancient rivalries were dropped without resolution and new, darker ones took their place. It seemed as if the school was dividing itself into opposing camps. Some were caught in the middle however, with loyalties to both sides.  
  
Ron Weasley was one such person. Harry and Hermione had been his two best friends for five years, but now he was caught between his desire to remain their friend and the fact that his sister was most definitely on the opposing side. So far he had chosen to remain loyal to his family, but it was obvious he was not very happy about it. He made small overtures of reconciliation toward Harry and Hermione, which became more frequent as time passed.  
  
Both Harry and Hermione missed their old friend, but in a word, they did not and could not trust him. As much as it hurt, they were forced to exclude him from anything but casual conversation. There was no getting around the fact that anything they said to him would most likely be repeated to Ginny. Cho could empathize with them, from her previous experience with Ellwyn.  
  
In spite of everything, they tried to have as normal a school year as possible. Quidditch was going well and both Cho and Harry were elected as Team Captains. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were undefeated. The re-match of the two houses was scheduled again for April. Despite whatever else was going on at the school, this was THE match of the year, and everyone was looking forward to it with great anticipation, no one more so than the two Seekers.  
  
On another level, Hogwarts was a special kind of torture. Cho and Harry were together, but they were almost never alone. They still made their midnight excursions for a bit of snogging, but they wanted more and there was just no place for it. There were holidays coming, but Cho was expected at home, and Harry was definitely not going to the Dursleys or the Weasleys. It was highly doubtful he would be allowed to go to Professor Lupin's. Cho was seriously considering whether or not to simply defy her mother one more time and remain in the castle.  
  
Thoughts of the holidays led to thoughts of next year. What would next year be like when Harry would still be at Hogwarts, and she would not? The only time she would be able to see him would be on Hogsmeade Weekends. It was simply unthinkable. They would cross that bridge when they came to it.  
  
In the weeks following Halloween, Harry began having nightmares again. For the most part they were vague, tortured affairs full of the green light of the killing curses, screams, and the corpses of friends and loved ones. Nights of tangled sheets and waking to find himself drenched in cold sweat, gasping for air with the deafening of his own heartbeat in his ears became the norm for Harry. The specifics of his dreams eluded him but the terror that was their core shadowed him well into the day.  
  
As November reached its zenith one nightmare came that stood out from the generic horror of the others. Harry found himself moving slowly through the darkness of night. His perspective was from almost ground level, as if he was sliding across the ground itself. After a short time of weaving around rocks and branches light emerged. Gathered around a fire that gave no warmth were cloaked figures. Harry knew all of them: there was Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, Peter Pettigrew, and finally Voldemort himself.  
  
"You're wasting my time, girl!'' hissed Voldemort, "If you want to leave this clearing unscathed, you better say something worth hearing. I don't suffer fools lightly."  
  
"One would never guess from the idiots who go around calling themselves Death Eaters. Why are you hiding in a forest while your enemies sleep in a castle?"  
  
Malfoy and Pettigrew shifted uncomfortably. Voldemort lifted his wand and pointed it in Ginny's direction. "You dare insult me?! Typical foolish Gryffindor bravado. You're going to die slowly young Miss Ginny Weasley, very, very slowly."  
  
Ginny appeared un-phased. "Look into my eyes," she said, "tell me what you see there." Voldemort paused but made no move to comply. Instead, Ginny walked up to him until her face was only inches from his. "Look, and you'll see a reflection of yourself. Tell me that you can't feel the connection."  
  
Voldemort lowered his wand. "What is it you want, Miss Weasley?"  
  
"I want Harry Potter," Ginny said flatly "You can neutralize him, but he lives and he belongs to me. I want that Ravenclaw whore of his to die a painful death."  
  
Voldemort burst into laughter. Not the macabre, maniacal laughter one might expect from one who planned to dominate the world by means of dark sorcery, but true hysterical, sidesplitting, ha-ha that-was-the-funniest-thing-I- ever-heard laughter. Voldemort laughed until he couldn't stand up straight. After a couple of minutes Pettigrew joined in, and a few minutes after that Draco Malfoy joined in as well. Only Ginny Weasley, her face burning scarlet and an angry fire in her eyes failed to see the humor.  
  
Finally Voldemort composed himself enough to speak. "You want me to give you Harry Potter?" He asked, visibly suppressing another fit of laughter. "We already gave you young Master Malfoy. Is he not enough for you? Did Lucius produce a dud?" He burst into laughter again. Draco Malfoy suddenly became as humorless as Ginny.  
  
"Malfoy is irrelevant. Take away the hair and the smug look on his face and there's nothing left but a spoiled prat with ambition but no will."  
  
"I see," answered Voldemort, "and why should I grant you anything when you have yet to prove your loyalty to me and you do not even carry my mark."  
  
"Because I carry the consciousness of your younger self alongside my own. With me on your side, you won't have to trust the imbeciles you have now to make the right decision. I will be able to make decisions as you yourself would make them. I can deliver Harry Potter to you."  
  
"Alright, Miss Weasley. I accept. Deliver Harry Potter and you will be my lieutenant. Now go before I change my mind, and take the irrelevant Mr. Malfoy with you." He added with a chuckle.  
  
Harry's view of the scene began to fade and with it his memory of the specifics. He awoke in a panic and ran immediately to Professor Dumbledore's office without even bothering to find his invisibility cloak. Normally he wouldn't have bothered the Professor with a nightmare, but it was no longer just his life at stake, but Cho's as well.  
  
"Professor, " Harry demanded, "You have to do a recollection charm on me. I need to remember this dream."  
  
Professor Dumbledore suggested that morning might be a more appropriate time for such an endeavor, but Harry insisted. Finally realizing he was going to get no sleep until he relented, the Professor performed the charm and listened to Harry's retelling of the dream.  
  
"Alright, Harry. You did the right thing in coming to me and I apologize for trying to put you off. I will interview the parties involved tomorrow and consult with the other professors to see if we can increase the security around you and Miss Chang. You do realize of course, this will cut down on your privacy and there will be no more midnight excursions to the Astronomy Tower.  
  
Harry blushed, but nodded his agreement. "I understand," he said, "safety is more important. I can't let anything happen to Cho just for the sake of some snogging. Do what you have to do, Professor."  
  
Professor Dumbledore bid Harry good night and promised he would take care of things in the morning. Anxious, but somewhat reassured, Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower and his own bed to salvage what sleep he could.  
  
The next day at breakfast Harry told Cho and Hermione about his nightmare, and Professor Dumbledore's reaction. On the one hand they felt relief that someone finally believed them, on the other there was the realization that the threat was real and serious. Cho had lost all interest in breakfast. Getting up from the table, she motioned for Harry to accompany her.  
  
Cho led Harry by the hand through the meandering passages of Hogwarts Castle, wandering as if she weren't exactly sure where they were going. Harry followed along silently. At last Cho stopped and pulled him through a doorway into a small courtyard. A small marble fountain babbled in the center surrounded be low benches of a similar material. Despite the fact that it was nearing the end of November, a draft of warm air vented down, and if there were no flowers, at least the shrubbery was still green.  
  
Harry looked around in awe. "I had no idea this was even here. What a wonderful spot."  
  
"I've never been here before," Cho replied, "I was just looking for an out of the way spot. When we passed the doorway, I just seemed to know that this was the place."  
  
A sly grin made its way across Harry's face. "Miss Chang, at this time of morning?"  
  
"Very presumptuous of you, Mr. Potter," Cho answered coyly. Harry set down his books and took her in his arms. "If Professor Dumbledore is going to have us watched, we might not be able to kiss properly again until Christmas, or, even worse, summer."  
  
A few minutes later, hair re-combed and robes smoothed, the couple emerged back into the main hallway and the bustle of students making their way to class. The only sign of their adventure was the broad smile plastered on their features when they looked at each other. No one else seemed able to distinguish this from their usual expression when they were in each other's company.  
  
Cho went through Transfigurations trying not to think of what terrible things might happen next. This was one of those days she just wanted to run away with Harry and hide. It was impossible to keep her mind on her lessons; she was simply killing time until lunch. After Transfigurations, she had Herbology. She never made it there. Halfway to the greenhouse her world suddenly went black  
  
Harry, equally distracted, watched intently as the sand in the hourglass of Madame Trewlawney's Divination class slowly emptied. Divination before lunch, he thought, should be considered cruel and unusual punishment. Not that he liked Divination any better after lunch, of course. Mostly he just wanted to go to lunch and see Cho. About the time the sand had half emptied the top half of the glass, Professor Dumbledore came through the trapdoor.  
  
"All students will go immediately to their House Common Rooms and remain there until further word is given. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, you will accompany me."  
  
Harry's heart sank. Something had happened to Cho, he simply knew it. Something had happened that involved Ginny. This couldn't possibly be good. Ron had no idea what was going on either, but the somber look he shared with Harry said he was equally resigned to the fact that it was not good. Grimly they followed the old Professor to his office. He gestured for them to be seated.  
  
"I have bad news, as I'm sure you can guess," said Professor Dumbledore. "Harry, this morning I questioned the parties involved in your dream. Ginny Weasley was decidedly uninformative. Draco Malfoy on the other hand seemed to be rather afraid for his life, and confessed a great deal. His concerns were apparently well founded because a short time later, Mr. Filch found his corpse stuffed into a broom closet. I'm afraid that there is little doubt this was the work of Miss Weasley."  
  
Ron slumped into his chair. "He's dead?"  
  
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "There was a note, Harry, addressed to you."  
  
Harry took the note and read:  
  
Dearest Harry,  
  
If you want to see your precious Ravenclaw bitch alive one last time, you'd better come along quickly.  
  
Love,  
  
Ginny  
  
"Miss Chang left her Transfiguration class, but never made it to Herbology. Miss Weasley is also missing. This was also found on Draco's corpse." Professor Dumbledore held up an empty ink vial. "It is definitely a port key, but apparently it is keyed only to you."  
  
Harry reached for it without hesitating. Professor Dumbledore held it back. "You know this is a trap don't you? You will be walking right into their hands. I understand you have feelings for Miss Chang, but you cannot allow those feelings to impair your judgement. You, Harry, are an important symbol to the wizarding world. Your reckless death would have far-reaching and serious consequences"  
  
"I don't care about any of that. If Cho is in danger, then I have to go."  
  
"They are not going to just let you walk in and take her out Harry." Ron finally spoke  
  
Harry pointed his finger at Professor Dumbledore. "This is your fault, sir. If you had listened to Hermione, this could have been prevented. Give me the port key. I have to try and if Cho is dead, I will hold you personally responsible. If I die, I will haunt you Albus Dumbledore, in this world and the next."  
  
"What would you have had me do, Harry?"  
  
"This is not the time for sanctimony. Give me the bloody key!" Harry pulled his wand out and pointed it at the Headmaster.  
  
Professor Dumbledore's eyes instantly lost their sparkle. "You are angry, Harry. Put your wand away before you do something you'll regret."  
  
"The key, Professor. The only thing I will regret is not going to Cho."  
  
"Very well." Professor Dumbledore put the vial on the table. Harry grabbed hold of it and was instantly somewhere else.  
  
Harry found himself in the clearing he had seen in his dream. It appeared to be somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. In the distance he could spy a cottage there that hadn't been visible in the dream. The sound he heard though was what immediately seized his attention. It was the desperate and tortured scream of Cho. Harry ran towards the sound until he could see her twisting form on the ground near the tree line. Not bothering with stealth, Harry dashed into range and cast a "Finite Incantem" at Cho. Instantly her writhing subsided into a mere gasping for air.  
  
"Harry!" shouted Ginny, "You got here much sooner than I expected. You never told me Cho could be so amusing."  
  
"I'm here now. Let her go."  
  
"Not just yet, Harry. The fun is only starting. I've been looking forward to this for so long, it would be a shame to rush it."  
  
"Expelliarmus" Harry yelled. Ginny dodged the spell easily.  
  
"Crucio!" Ginny cried in return. Harry was obviously not the target. The air once again was filled with the sound of Cho's pain.  
  
Harry once again ended the spell. He went to Cho's side and touched his wand to her breast. "Fulcio" He felt the surge of strength leave his body and saw it enter Cho's. He had very little time he knew. "Cho, I love you. Concentrate on those words when she uses the Cruciatus. Hear my voice say those words to you." Cho could only nod in acknowledgement.  
  
"Expelliarmus" The spell hit him full force, like a lorry. He flew through the air, away from his wand, and landed three of four meters from where he had previously stood. Weakened by the loss of strength he had given to Cho. Harry had the wind knocked out of him, and felt dazed.  
  
"Crucio!" The voice of the caster was not Ginny, but Voldemort. Waves of pain hit Harry, like red-hot daggers marching through every cell of his body. Harry disassociated his mind from his body as he had been taught. His body writhed in pain but 'he' did not feel it. Perhaps a minute, perhaps a year later, the spell ended. Wormtail, Harry had no idea where he had come from, was manhandling him towards a wooden frame. Once there, he was bound, hands overhead. A few feet away he could see that Cho was in a similar position.  
  
"Hello again, Harry," drawled Voldemort, "You and I have business to settle. I don't believe I'll be quite so sporting this time. You will die where you are and there will be no more complications of brother wand against brother wand."  
  
"We had a deal!" screamed Ginny, "He lives, and she dies a painful death."  
  
Voldemort cast a cruciatus on Ginny and this time it was her screams that filled the air. Moments later Voldemort released her from her agony. "You carry my reflection in your head, you should know that I do not buy loyalty from my servants. I take that which belongs to me. You will serve me because you are mine and that is your role."  
  
Gasping, Ginny got to her feet. "Yes, My Lord."  
  
"Potter is too much of a threat to keep alive. Perhaps I will let you decide the manner of his death, or perhaps whether it will be more fun to kill him and let her watch, or kill her and let him watch." Voldemort turned to face Harry. "Which would you prefer, Harry?"  
  
"Petrificus Totalus" Voldemort froze as if a statue, Ginny was standing behind him, wand in hand. A sudden noise reminded her of Wormtail's presence. "Avada Kedavra" Peter Pettigrew fell to the ground.  
  
"You're the bloody freaking Dark Lord. Surely someone must have told you Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Ginny placed the tip of her wand under Voldemort's chin. "Surprised are you? Wondering how it is you've been caught by a spell any second-year can cast? Because I'm you! I know your bloody secrets, and you were too stupid to realize there was no way I was going to 'serve' you or anyone else. Think about it: if the roles were reversed, what would you have done?"  
  
Voldemort's eyes burned with anger, but he remained unable to answer.  
  
"I suppose I really should torture you a bit, I really should have a good laugh at your expense, but I have other business to attend to. Irruptus!" Voldemort's head exploded into a rain of gore. Headless, his body fell to the ground.  
  
Ginny bent down and tore a piece of Voldemort's robe away, then used it to wipe the blood and gray matter from her face and hands. "So, where were we? Oh yeah, the deal was Harry lives, and the bitch dies. Anyone one have any problems with that?"  
  
"Why keep me alive Ginny? Do you think it will change anything?"  
  
"You love me, Harry Potter, I know you do. You just can't see it because she has blinded you." Ginny gestured at Cho, and cast another cruciatus at her. Cho's body struggled against the bonds holding her in place. "I just have to make you see that. When she is gone, you'll see her for what she really is."  
  
"I love her Ginny, do you think that if you kill her I will even be able to stand the sight of you?"  
  
"I'm not going to kill her, you are… Imperio!"  
  
Harry felt his will drain away. He had the feeling that he was a passenger in his own body. He could fight this though, he knew how to do this, he had done it before. Ginny loosened the bonds on his right hand and placed his wand it.  
  
"Kill her, now!"  
  
Harry struggled to maintain control of himself and pointed his wand at Cho "Finite Incantem, Fulcio" Harry had no idea whether or not the second spell would work from this distance, but it did. He felt another surge of strength drain from his body. His arm fell, no longer able to hold up its own weight. He wouldn't be able to that again any time soon. He hoped it would be enough.  
  
Ginny whirled around in shock. Harry smiled at her. "I love Cho. Nothing is going to change that. Killing Cho will not make me love you; only a lunatic would think it would. Tom is making you do these things, the real Ginny wouldn't do this."  
  
"You're so naïve, Harry. Tom and I are the same now; this is the closest thing there is to a real Ginny. What you think of as 'the real Ginny' is gone, you killed her when you took up with that tramp. I loved you and you ignored me, you could never see past your precious Cho."  
  
"You weren't in love with me, Ginny. You were in love with the myth – 'The Boy Who Lived', the Scar. That isn't me Ginny. I am Harry Potter. I play Quidditch, I make up my Divination homework, I sneak out of the Dorms after curfew, and I love Cho Chang. I'm sorry if I hurt you, but look at yourself. You've been tossing around unforgivable curses and dark magic like they're chocolate frogs. I'm not worth you're soul, Ginny. I love Cho and you have to learn to deal with that."  
  
"I do not have to learn to deal with that! Do you know what it's like to see you two together? Do you know how much it hurts? Why doesn't she have to learn to deal with not having you?"  
  
"Because I love her."  
  
"Would you stop saying that? It doesn't matter whether you love her or not, you two are finished. If you're so set on denying me happiness, then I will return the favor. One way or the other, you are going to lose her. I'll even let you choose. First choice: You declare your undying devotion and love to me, and I will give the Bitch a quick painless death with her last memory of you being your betrayal. Second Choice: You can refuse and watch while I leave the cruciatus on her until her mind snaps. You'll still have her body of course, but nobody will be home."  
  
Harry marshaled his remaining strength and began to struggle with his bonds. "You're insane! You had better kill me because if I get lose I am going to rip you to sheds."  
  
"Should I take that as a refusal? Just as well, I was going to torture her anyway."  
  
Harry was desperate. He had to think of something. He was not going to watch either of those things happen. "Whatever made you think I could love you in the first place? A stupid git of a girl like you?"  
  
Ginny turned to face Harry again. Harry spat at her, his spittle landed on her dress. Ginny backhanded him against the jaw.  
  
Well, it wasn't much of a plan, he thought, but it was the best he could do at the time. " If there's even is a girl under all those damned freckles." Ginny whacked him again. "It really should have tipped you off when you had to go to Slytherin to find a boyfriend." She hit him in the gut this time. "I'd bet the only reason Draco went out with you was because he thought you were really a boy."  
  
Harry spat insult after insult at Ginny, and she returned blow after blow. When pain overwhelmed his imagination, she still continued to beat on him. He was content; as long as she was beating on him, she wasn't hurting Cho. "I Love Cho" became his mantra. Over and over he repeated it. Consciousness failed him. Sometime later the darkness turned to dim light and a haze of pain. He resumed his mantra, and the pain intensified. It was still working.  
  
  
  
In the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Ron was still staring at the space where Harry had been only a few seconds before. Professor Dumbledore exhaled a sigh of regret.  
  
"We need to get Hermione, she can take us to Harry." Ron was already up and moving towards the door.  
  
"Wait," called Professor Dumbledore.  
  
Ron stopped in his tracks. "We are going to find him, please don't try to stop us."  
  
"I wouldn't presume," said the Professor, "I was going to give you this. It will allow you to summon help once you get wherever it is you are going." He handed Ron a small blue stone. "Simply hold it in your hand and concentrate."  
  
Ron took the stone and ran towards Gryffindor Tower to find Hermione. She was in the Common Room waiting for him.  
  
"We have to go to Harry," he said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Where is he?" Hermione asked. "I've been worried sick. Ginny?"  
  
Ron nodded grimly. "Harry used a port key to rescue Cho. We'll need to use the charm to find him."  
  
Hermione nodded, and ran to her room to find the charm she and Ron had made without Harry's knowledge two years before. They had figured it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. They both knew that Harry would not hesitate for a second to leave them behind, and that was something they were determined would not happen. To prevent it, they had made this charm with a lock of Harry's hair, so that no matter where he went, they would be able to find him. She returned with the locket and found Ron holding Harry's Invisibility Cloak.  
  
"How are we going to go?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Harry's Firebolt would be best I think."  
  
Hermione nodded. Flying was not her favorite pastime, but extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures. They went down to the broom shed and recovered Harry's broom. Ron piloted with Hermione holding the charm and giving directions. They found the clearing after about fifteen minutes of flying. They didn't get too close to the clearing for fear of being seen. Ron landed in the trees a short distance away.  
  
Under the Invisibility Cloak, they approached the clearing. Ginny was beating on the impossibly battered figure of Harry Potter, Cho Chang was bound to a timber frame, and hanging limply, a body they both recognized as Peter Pettigrew lay still on the ground, and another body lay headless near Ginny's feet. Ginny was pounding and pounding on Harry, yelling at him to shut up. They were unable to determine if Harry was saying anything or not. It was hard to tell if he were even actually alive.  
  
Hermione had her wand out. "I am going to kill her."  
  
Ron grabbed the stone that Professor Dumbledore had given and concentrated on summoning as much help as possible.  
  
Hermione stepped out from under the cloak. "Avada Ked…."  
  
"Expelliarmus!"  
  
Hermione's wand went one way and she went the other. She looked up from her new position as Ron stepped out from under the cloak as well. Ron had betrayed her. How could he have done that? He looked at her with sorrow in his eyes.  
  
Ginny snapped out of her rage. "Brother, you came and you cared! " Ginny levitated Hermione to the frame holding Cho and performed a binding spell to keep her there. "You brought the Mudblood for me too. You're so kind."  
  
"Let them go, Ginny," said Ron quietly, "Stop this madness."  
  
"Oh Ron, not you too. I like this madness. I'll be patient with you because you saved my life, now help me wake up Harry, so he can watch Cho die." Ginny turned and started shaking Harry as if trying to wake someone who had simply dozed off for an afternoon nap.  
  
There were tears in Ron's eyes as he raised his wand. He pointed it at the back of Ginny's head and closed his eyes. "Obliviate" The spell hit Ginny in mid stride and she fell under the impact. Ron went to her and picked her up. The blank face that stared back at him struck him in the chest like a Bludger at high speed. "Sit here, Ginny, don't move." Ron went to the timber frame where Cho and Hermione were bound and released them. Cho was barely able to keep herself from falling. Hermione cradled her and eased her to the ground.  
  
"Get Harry," Cho whispered.  
  
Ron went to do that, but wasn't sure it was a good idea. He had learned that moving someone badly injured was not a good idea unless it was an emergency. Ron pulled out the stone and concentrated on it. Where the hell was Professor Dumbledore? What should he do? Harry needed a real doctor, not whatever measly first aid he would be able to manage.  
  
Cho was up and moving. She stood in front of Harry and put the tip of her wand to Harry's chest. "Fulcio" she said, then fell backwards. Ron barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground.  
  
Harry heaved and coughed up blood. "IloveCho" he muttered, "IloveCho". Over and over he said the words.  
  
At last the pops of Apparation were heard, Professor Dumbledore and several Aurors appeared and fanned out around the clearing. Ron silently took Harry's cloak and Broom and left without saying anything to anyone.  
  
***  
  
Author's Note:  
  
Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed. I've been wavering back & forth on whether or not to do a sequel. At the moment, I am leaning in favor of doing one. I really have more material than can fit neatly into one story and it would be a shame to waste it.  
  
Special thanks also to Amy, Alex, and Bernardo for providing insight, motivation, and correcting my spelling, grammar and punctuation. Thanks for putting up with the last minute changes.  
  
The next chapter deals with reconciliation and healing…oh yeah, there's Quidditch too.  
  
*** 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
Cho gradually became aware of her surroundings. The world resolved itself into white walls gleaming with light, stiff cotton sheets, the weight of heavy wool blankets, and the pervasive smell of absolute cleanliness. Through sleep induced fog, it occurred to her that she was in the Hospital Wing. Why was she in the Hospital Wing? Suddenly the answer came to her and she immediately sat up straight. "Harry!"  
  
Madame Pomfrey was instantly at her side, trying to make her lay back down. "Miss Chang," she said gravely, "you simply must lay down. You need rest."  
  
"Harry!" Cho insisted, "Where is Harry?"  
  
"Harry is here, don't worry." Madame Pomfrey brought a glass to Cho's lips. The effervescent vapor made it unmistakably a sleeping draught. "Drink this, it will help you rest"  
  
Cho refused. "I want to see him. Is he okay?" She was losing the battle to stay upright, but she was determined to win the war.  
  
"You're in no condition to see anyone right now." Madame Pomfrey said gently as she tucked in Cho's blankets. "Rest now and we'll talk about it later. Even if I were to agree, you don't have the strength to get out of bed, let alone walk over to see him."  
  
It was obvious the nurse was avoiding her questions. "Just tell me whether or not he's okay."  
  
Madame Pomfrey held the glass up to her again. "Drink first, then I'll tell you."  
  
Cho resigned herself to sleep. Truth told, she felt as if she had been run over by a lorry. "Okay," she answered and swallowed down the potion. She could feel the warm tendrils of sleep massaging her consciousness before she had even swallowed the last drop. She fought then off as valiantly as she could. "Please tell me."  
  
Madame Pomfrey stalled, hoping the Sleeping Draught would take effect before she had to fulfill her end of the bargain. Cho stubbornly remained awake. How was she going to answer the girl? "Harry is going to be just fine," she eventually answered. Madame Pomfrey hoped with all her heart that this was the truth. Finally content, Cho surrendered to sleep.  
  
After two days, Madame Pomfrey decided the Cho was an even more difficult patient than Harry Potter, and declared her healthy. Harry remained unconscious, which the Nurse believed was the only reason the Hospital Wing remained intact. Professor Dumbledore advised her to simply give in, and against her better judgement she relented.  
  
All of the mental preparations Cho had made evaporated as soon as she actually saw him. Harry looked impossibly pale and fragile, as he lay unconscious in his hospital bed. Madame Pomfrey had told her Harry would be okay, but Cho didn't understand how. She sat beside his bed and wept. Sirius Black arrived at some point and tried to comfort her, but she rebuffed his efforts. Later, Hermione came and made a similar attempt and was equally unsuccessful. In the end, Madame Pomfrey gave her a Sleeping Draught and she ended up spending and extra night in the Hospital Wing.  
  
Cho returned to classes and settled into a routine. She went to class for eight hours, she went to the library for two hours, then she stayed with Harry for as long as Madame Pomfrey would allow her. When Madame Pomfrey sent her back to Ravenclaw Tower, she studied more until she just couldn't stand it. The only way she was able to sleep was through sheer exhaustion. She could not close her eyes for more than a few seconds without reliving some part of the experience in the forest.  
  
Over and over, night and day, she relived the experience. After Professor Dumbledore and the Aurors had arrived, Cho, Harry, and Hermione had been transported back to Hogwarts. Ron had vanished and hadn't been seen since. Ginny Weasley had been taken somewhere else, St. Mungo's was a pretty safe assumption. Everyone but Harry had been questioned and re-questioned. Cho, who had been there longest, had been 'interviewed' and forced to relive the experience in pain-staking detail no less than four times. How many times did they need to hear the same story?  
  
Lack of sleep, concern for Harry, and the trauma itself was taking its toll on her. Again she was haunted by the question: "Are you okay?" This time it didn't seem such a big deal. She was most decidedly not okay. She was 'not okay' in ways that she couldn't even allow herself to think about yet. She needed time. She needed her mother. She needed Harry. She didn't have any of these things and two of them were mutually exclusive. She was not going home for the holidays. She had sent a letter home explaining what had happened. A reply had come, but she was so certain of its contents, she hadn't even bothered to read it.  
  
As the Holidays approached, a giddy air pervaded Hogwarts. Since the Ministry of Magic had officially denied Voldemort's return and had therefore decided that it would be unwise to officially report on his demise. Still, the world at large was slowly realizing that something had happened – something big. The world had changed even if no one really knew why. Death Eater attacks had all but ceased and the 'Daily Prophet' reported regularly on the progress of the Aurors as they systematically rounded up those involved. Sirius Black had surrendered, been given a trial and found innocent. All of his previous atrocities were now attributed to Peter Pettigrew. There was no official explanation for the death of Draco Malfoy or the disappearances of Ginny and Ron Weasley.  
  
When the rest of the students departed, except for Harry and Hermione, Cho saw it as a relief. Harry was awake a few hours of each day now, and the lack of classes meant that she could be there for all of them. Even when he slept she remained with him, she watched helplessly as he struggled through his nightmares. Even with the draughts Madame Pomfrey gave him, he could not escape them.  
  
Cho was sick with despair. She had been weak and Harry had paid the price. She was overwhelmed with guilt and shame. She wanted to run and hide. Harry needed her though. He was so glad to see her when he was awoke and always had the biggest smile for her. She could read him like a book now, and she could see love and happiness positively leaking out of him. She felt supremely unworthy of it.  
  
Hermione's theory was that Harry had finally proved himself worthy of love in his own mind. Cho found it ironic that he had done so just as she had proven herself unworthy. Harry wanted her and needed her and Cho knew that she would never deny him anything. Her feelings were real though. She needed to work through this and she didn't know how.  
  
Sirius came to visit quite often. If Ginny Weasley had done a single good thing, she had killed Peter Pettigrew. When the Aurors had recovered the corpse, The Ministry of Magic had been left with little choice but to pardon Sirius and clear his name. Sirius Black was now a free man and ready fulfill his role as Harry's godfather, even if Harry only had a year and a half left of legal childhood. Sirius had left explicit instructions for Cho to be given as much access as possible to Harry. They had talked several times, mostly about Harry. Sirius had never questioned the seriousness of their relationship. Potter men, he explained, seemed to find their soul mates at a young age.  
  
  
  
On Christmas Eve, Cho sat with Harry, Hermione, and Sirius. Hermione was reading to them from Hogwarts: A History but no one was really paying attention, probably not even Hermione. A small stack of presents had accumulated on a table off to one side. Sirius had smuggled in a few Butter Beers and despite the fact that it was in the Hospital Wing, the atmosphere somehow managed to be cozy.  
  
Unknown footsteps approached the corner that Madame Pomfrey had set Harry up in. The steps stopped just outside the privacy curtains. "Cho?"  
  
Cho's almost choked. That was her mother's voice. She stood up, "Come in, Mother". Her mother stepped in looking every inch as Cho remembered her; She was dressed in impeccable, but smart business robes and her hair was perfect. Cho hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. She then introduced everyone saving Harry for last.  
  
"So you are Harry Potter," Cho's mother said imperiously, "I've heard a great deal about you."  
  
"I've heard a great deal about you as well," Harry said politely. Inwardly he was cringing. He had heard how much Cho's mother hated him, but still he wanted to make as good an impression as possible. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Would you like to sit down?"  
  
"Yes, actually I would"  
  
Cho gave her seat to her mother, and went for another chair. By the time she got back Hermione had suddenly decided she was tired and wanted to turn in for the night. Sirius offered to walk her back to Gryffindor Tower. Cho, Harry, and Mrs. Chang were alone. Harry tried to sit up, but this was a painful experience. Cho helped to ease him up, whispering soft words to him as he settled into the new position.  
  
"You should probably lay back down," suggested Cho's mother.  
  
"I'm fine, really," insisted Harry, "Now that I'm up here, I'd just as soon not move again for a while."  
  
"I didn't expect you here, Mother." Cho was anxious to find out what her Mother's intentions were. If she thought she was going to harass Harry, or convince Cho to leave, then she was going to learn a few things about he daughter  
  
"I sent you an owl," her mother answered matter-of-factly.  
  
"I'm sorry, Mother, I never read it. I assumed you would just try to convince me to come home and leave Harry here. I couldn't do that, and I've just been though too much lately to handle an argument."  
  
"I see," said Cho's mother. She paused, sighed and appeared to think for a few minutes. "Cho, you are my daughter. I have only wanted the best for you. In my attempts to ensure your future I chose a path that was my vision of what was best. I can accept that what is best for me, may not be best for you. I can't pretend that I understand the motivation to play a game as a profession, especially a game as dangerous as Quidditch. If this is the course you have chosen for yourself, if this is truly your talent, then I will not stand in your way. I know you were going to do it anyway, but now you have my blessing."  
  
"Thank you, Mother" said Cho, "that means a lot to me." She gave her mother a buss on the cheek, then sat down in the chair she had placed next to Harry.  
  
"When I was a girl, about your age, Cho, I had a great love. It wasn't your father, mind you, I met him much later. When my mother found out, she was furious. I was forbidden to see him ever again, for my own good I was told. I was raised much more traditionally than I have raised you. My mother's idea of enlightenment was that I would be well educated. As a dutiful daughter, I obeyed. Some part of me never forgave my mother for that. I went on to become a doctor, which did annoy my mother, and I met your father. When you were born, I swore that I was not going to turn into my mother in the way that I raised you. Somehow I did though.  
  
"I still think about that boy sometimes. I have no idea what became of him and I don't especially want to know. I am happy with my life now, and I wouldn't trade it away. I still wonder though what would have happened if my mother had not intervened. Would all of this have happened anyway? Would I have been happy? His loss hurt me, was that pain necessary or is it possible I would have been exactly who I am without ever having felt it? Did my mother do the right thing? At the time I didn't think so and I still don't. The fact is however, that I was prepared to do to my daughter exactly what my mother did to me and for exactly the same reason – what I saw as your own good.  
  
"I am not my mother, and you are not me, Cho. I have to stop trying to make you into me. I have listened to the words of Ellwyn Brigstock over the words of my own daughter. Actually, I haven't even listened to you at all. Whenever you have tried to speak, I have silenced you. I am sorry Cho, and I am asking for forgiveness."  
  
"Of course, Mother." Cho wiped tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry too. I never wanted to disappoint you. I have tried to be a good daughter."  
  
"You have never disappointed me Cho. Even in defiance, you have excelled. Your father plays golf with Ludo Bagman occasionally, and says he won't leave him alone about representing you. Your father says not to trust Mr. Bagman any further than his shadow, by the way. You have been a good daughter, and I am proud of you."  
  
"Thank you, mother. You know, I did want to be you until I found my own way. You were a good role model."  
  
"I didn't come here just to talk though. I also came to listen. My daughter has a boyfriend, and I would like to hear about it. Tell me how you two met, and how you got together, and anything else fit for a mother's ears." She smiled. "I'll get the rest out of you later."  
  
Cho and Harry told their story, from the Quidditch match up to the day in the forest. They left out a few things, like the night in the attic, and the details of what happened in the clearing. Cho's mother asked Harry details about his life and his past, and asked them both about plans for their future. They discussed their book and hopeful plans to play professionally. They wanted to be together, whatever they were going to do, they were going to do it together.  
  
Harry drifted to sleep. Madame Pomfrey had previously agreed that Cho could remain through the night, so she wasn't going to be forced to leave. Mrs. Chang seemed equally prepared to stay.  
  
"Something is bothering you, Cho. Can you tell me what it is?"  
  
Cho remained silent for several minutes before answering. "It's about Harry. All of this is my fault."  
  
"I don't know how you can think that. Harry obviously doesn't feel that way.  
  
Cho shook her head.  
  
"Harry came to rescue you. You can not blame yourself for being kidnapped. You are important to Harry. That is why you were taken. Would you want Harry to feel guilty about loving you because that put you in danger?"  
  
"Don't even say that, Mother. He would actually do that."  
  
"Then why do you feel responsible? How is what you are doing any different?"  
  
Cho told her mother about the choice that Harry was given. "I was so afraid of the Cruciatus curse that I wanted Harry to renounce me so that I wouldn't have to face the pain again. I wanted Harry to be weak, he couldn't do it though, he taunted her to keep her attention away from me. She beat him and he continued to taunt her. She cursed him and he continued to swear his love for me. I could have stopped her. All I had to do was call out, and she would have stopped, but I couldn't do it."  
  
"But then you both would have died. You did what Harry wanted you to do. You were tortured, Cho. The Cruciatus is supposed to do effect you that way. You weren't weak, you were normal."  
  
Cho shook her head. "It didn't effect Harry that way."  
  
"Harry appears to be quite an extraordinary young man. Think about this though. It was your name on his lips, you said. You were what made him strong. He could not have taken such strength from you if it were not there. You have nothing to be ashamed of Cho. You lived through a terrible experience. Talk with Harry about this, he will tell you the same thing. Together you are greater than you are separately."  
  
"I'll talk to him."  
  
"You chose well, Cho. You should bring him to meet your father, he is anxious to meet him. Give me a bit of warning, please, but you are welcome any time – both of you."  
  
In January, Harry was released from the hospital wing. He still looked somewhat fragile, but he was glad to be free of the Hospital and Madame Pomfrey. He was grounded though, not allowed to fly until further notice. Madame Pomfrey was quick to remind him he should be thanking the stars he could walk instead of crying about not being able to fly.  
  
Life quickly settled back into the routine where they almost never got to see each other. Their time together was limited to mealtimes and evenings in the library. Cho was in the final push towards N.E.W.T.s.and Harry had mountains of schoolwork to catch up on himself. Cho was grateful for the work. It kept her mind off of other things.  
  
The other things never strayed far from Harry's mind however. Ron was still missing and the empty seat next to Harry in each of his classes was a constant reminder. Harry was obsessed with idea of going to look for him. Professor Dumbledore refused to allow it. Sirius expressly ordered him not to go. Hermione threatened him with violence and Cho promised to have him physically restrained for even attempting it.  
  
Frustrated about his friend, overwhelmed by schoolwork, and chafing from being grounded, Harry decided that the one thing he could actually do something about was not being able to fly. Sirius decided this was a constructive endeavor and promised him that when Madame Pomfrey cleared him for flight he would buy him a new broom.  
  
Properly motivated, Harry worked diligently towards his own recovery. In little time at all he was looking and feeling as fit as ever. Madame Pomfrey cleared him for flight, Sirius delivered him a new Firebolt and Harry began to practice in earnest. The Ravenclaw/Gryffindor match, which had been in jeopardy of being cancelled, was once again the most anticipated event of the school year.  
  
No one was happier about this than Harry and Cho. The prospect of a real Quidditch match was enough to bring both of them out of the introspective quagmire they were sinking into. Quidditch, Cho reminded both herself and Harry, was good for the soul.  
  
On game day the stands were packed. It was Cho's last game at Hogwarts and she was determined to make it a memorable one. Her parents had even come to watch along side Sirius Black. Down below, in the team ready room, Cho made her mental preparations and last minute tweaks to her broom. As Captain, she was responsible for motivating her team. She made a short speech and walked out onto the pitch to face Harry.  
  
Once in the air, Cho and Harry began their high-speed ballet. Cho slipped into a search pattern she had developed without telling Harry. It was unlikely that this game would decide the House Cup. Gryffindor still had to play against Slytherin, so even if Ravenclaw won, Gryffindor would be able to recover the needed points. She was playing against Harry though, and that made this the most important game of the season.  
  
She wanted to win so badly she could taste it. In addition to new search patterns, she had done a lot of thinking about strategy. She had analyzed and reviewed every move of every game she had seen Harry play and she had found two weaknesses. They weren't big weaknesses, Harry was exceptionally good, but they were there. His first weakness was his greatest strength, and that was his flying ability. He relied too much on his ability to out- fly anyone and everyone. Secondly, he wore glasses, which meant he had to adjust for parallax and depth errors. That translated to time in flying terms. What she needed to do was create a situation that called for accuracy over speed.  
  
She feinted, and Harry ignored it. That tactic wasn't really going to work any more. They simply knew each other too well. They both stuck to their search patterns. Cho's was more efficient, but Harry was luckier. Mid- Pitch, mid-altitude, Harry found the snitch. She headed in the direction she expected the Snitch to change its course to. Harry wasn't close enough to catch it that quickly, it didn't matter because a well-aimed Bludger hit him in the shoulder and sent him spiraling. Cho fought to keep her eyes locked on the Snitch, and accelerated towards it. She desperately wanted to see if Harry was okay, but to do so would mean losing the Snitch.  
  
Seconds later Harry was closing in on both her and the snitch. The snitch was in an upward sweeping course, moving laterally back and forth across the pitch. Harry was trying to gain advantage by out climbing her. They were almost at the regulation ceiling altitude, so Cho wasn't especially worried about that. The big question was what would the Snitch do next? The answer came quickly enough when it plummeted straight downward. They both tipped their brooms downward and gave chase. The snitch out accelerated them though and they both had to break off the dive. Cho lost her eye lock on the snitch and went to regroup near the Ravenclaw goalposts  
  
Harry was already in a search pattern. Cho breathed a sigh of relief that he had lost the snitch too. Cho eased herself into her own search, and found the Snitch in about ten seconds. It was making a small bouncy pattern a little beneath the Announcers booth, about as stationary as a Snitch ever was. Cho threw herself and her broom at it. Harry instantly noticed and was headed towards it as well. They reached the snitch at exactly the same time, and the turbulence from the passing threatened the strength of her grip. She didn't care.  
  
She had the Snitch. She had beat Harry who was, arguably, one of the best Seekers to ever play the game. It hadn't been luck either, she had found his weakness and exploited it. She did a quick victory lap around the pitch, holding up her prize. Gryffindor would probably still win the Quidditch Cup, but she had beat Harry Potter.  
  
She landed on the Pitch in the middle of her cheering and ecstatic teammates. Harry was there, waiting for her with a huge grin on his face. Her team was ready to carry her off on their shoulders but she made them wait. He put his arms around her and kissed her.  
  
"Great game," he said to her.  
  
"You too," she answered, "I love you."  
  
"I love you too. You'd better go before your team explodes."  
  
She smiled and nodded. "Tomorrow then, at breakfast." She gave him another kiss then turned and was swept into cheer of her team.  
  
Gryffindor, as expected, steam-rolled over Slytherin and all but locked up the House Cup. The end of the Quidditch season marked the beginning of exam season. Cho began the wizarding ritual of passage known as the N.E.W.T.s. The few minutes of the day when she actually saw Harry, she was always exhausted or hastily preparing for her next. Harry, caught up in the stress of his own exams, tried to be understanding, but they were very trying days.  
  
Just when it seemed they could take no more, the exams were over. The students breathed a collective sigh of relief and settled down to enjoy the last leisurely week of school. There were no classes and the only source of stress was anticipation of the final grades. It was a bittersweet time for Cho as she and Harry tried to make up for the short tempers of the weeks before.  
  
As much as she wanted to just enjoy the time they had for what it was, Cho found it hard to keep from thinking of the future. As little time as they'd had during the school year, they would have even less next year. She was leaving Hogwarts, but Harry had eight long months The only time they would see each other was Hogsmeade Weekends and Holidays…it was depressing to think about.  
  
"What are we going to do Harry?" Cho was visibly distressed  
  
"We are going to follow our plan," Harry said as reassuringly as possible. He pulled her tight and gave her a kiss of the forehead for good measure. "You are going to play Quidditch and next year I'll join you. We'll finish our book. It'll all work out."  
  
"What if we can't sign for the same team?"  
  
"Then I'll become a Quidditch groupie. We'll be together. Whatever team you pick will have an opening sooner or later. Maybe they'll let me be the Quaffle Boy or something."  
  
"Harry, you're too good to be a groupie or a Quaffle Boy."  
  
"It will work out Cho. We'll make it work out. Whatever we have to do to be together."  
  
"I'm not doing anything until after summer. We are going to spend the summer together."  
  
"I think I have to go back to the Dursleys," Harry said with a grimace, "they'll never allow me to have visitors. Especially a beautiful, enchanting witch like you." Harry tried to put a good spin on it, but the thought obviously depressed him.  
  
Cho sat up instantly, her cheeks flushed with anger. "You are not going back to those Muggles, Harry. If I have to personally hex Professor Dumbledore, you are not going back there. You've been through too much and you deserve better."  
  
"It's just this one last time," Harry said, "Professor Dumbledore has always been quite insistent about it. Every time I get my hopes up, he just sends me back."  
  
"That was before, things are different now: Sirius is free and Voldemort is dead. There's no reason for it. Send an owl to Sirius right now, or I'll do it myself. If you can't stay with Professor Lupin, then you'll come to my parents house."  
  
Harry was still afraid to set himself for disappointment, but he sent Hedwig off anyway. Sirius arrived and listened to Harry and Cho's story. The three of them then went to see Professor Dumbledore. After some discussion, the Headmaster agreed. Harry could spend the summer at Professor Lupin's although he was encouraged to keep a low profile. Voldemort was dead, but he still had followers who might bear Harry a grudge.  
  
Harry was ecstatic. He immediately sent an owl to the Dursleys saying 'So long and thanks for nothing.' He had come to accept summers at the Dursleys' as a fact of life. Now he would finally have a chance at a normal summer. He would be able to see his friends when he wanted, he would be able to do homework, he would be able to see Cho…  
  
Sirius watched with amusement as Harry rattled off all of the things that he wanted to do that summer. He had that animated toy-monkey expression again. Cho stood by patiently and assured Harry that he could do each and everything on his list. Sirius interrupted briefly to let Harry know that he would be there to meet him at King's Cross. Harry barely missed a beat though. With a wink at Cho, Sirius turned and began the walk down to Hogsmeade, laughing to himself the entire way.  
  
***  
  
Author's Note:  
  
I think Chapter 7 scared everyone away. Thanks to everyone who stuck around, I hope you weren't disappointed, or too squicked. Thanks also to my Beta's: Amy, Alex, and Bodie. Anything you don't like about this story is probably something they suggested I cut, but stubbornly refused.  
  
As to the matter or whether or not Voldemort died too easily, I think that's a matter of opinion. Ginny and Voldemort were resonating on the same magical frequency. Voldemort really had no more protection against her than he had against himself. If he wasn't so egotistical, he probably would have figured that out. I don't want to give away anything, but let's just say that everything is not exactly the way it appears.  
  
There are one or two chapters left to this story, mostly tying up loose ends. There will be a sequel, although I probably won't start writing it right away. I have a couple of other things spinning in my head that I would like to get done, and I need some time to work out plot wrinkles.  
  
*** 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
Cho spent her first night after Hogwarts tossing and turning. In the few minutes she'd slept, she'd had a dream of Ginny standing over her, wand pointed, lips pursed to issue a curse. The setting wasn't the forest however, but her own bedroom. "You didn't think I would give up that easily did you?" Ginny had mocked her, "Who's going to save you now?" Cho had woken in a cold sweat.  
  
It was just a dream, she reminded herself. Ginny's mind had been erased and she was a permanent resident of St. Mungo's Institute of Psychiatric Wizardry. It was over. She just had to keep telling herself that.  
  
She didn't believe it though. The events in the forest had been like a stone throne into a pond, and from that impact emanated ripples that were very real. Cho felt she had learned things about herself that day that she would have been just fine never knowing.  
  
Deciding that sleep was no longer an option. Cho got up and thumbed though the manuscript of their book. It was ready to take to a publisher now. It represented more than a year of work and she was quite proud of it. Thumbing through the pages, she made a minor change here and there, made an occasional note of something for Harry to review. Gradually fatigue claimed her and she fell asleep at her desk.  
  
The next morning she awoke stiff and sore. After breakfast and a shower, she finished unpacking her belongings from her school trunk then wrapped up the manuscript and went through the flue to Professor Lupin's House.  
  
When she arrived she found the cottage empty. Looking around however, she spotted Harry working in the garden and went out to see him. Cho sat in the shade of a tree and watched him as he worked, shirtless and sweating from exertion. Even after Madame Pomfrey's best efforts, Harry was covered with scars. Her thoughts turned grim and her spirits began to sink. Harry noticed and sat down beside her.  
  
"What's wrong, love?" he asked.  
  
Cho smiled. It always gave her a warm feeling when he called her that. "Nothing," she answered.  
  
Harry frowned. "That's the sort of 'nothing' that definitely means 'something'. Did I do something wrong? I remembered your birthday, our anniversary, I got my shorts handed to me at a game of Quidditch." Harry was counting off on his fingers. "Come on, Cho. I know something is bothering you and has been for a while. We're supposed to talk about these things."  
  
Cho kissed his bare shoulder. It was grimy and tasted of salt. "We will Harry, just not right now. Okay?"  
  
Harry nodded and stood up. He offered her a hand to do the same. "Come on," he said, "I'll get cleaned up and we can do something about dinner. Hermione wants to go shopping on Diagon Alley"  
  
Cho sat in Harry's room, looking at his assortment of pictures and other trinkets he had collected during his time at Hogwarts. Beside his bed was the picture she had given him for his birthday last year. Last year seemed such a long time ago. Cho looked at the girl in the picture, she remembered being that girl, feeling grown up and mature, as if she were ready to conquer the world. That girl had known nothing.  
  
Harry returned, half dressed and drying his hair. The sight was enough to snap Cho out of her introspection. "Mr. Potter, I'm shocked! Have you no modesty?"  
  
Harry dropped his towel in answer. His robe was tied off around his waste. He flexed playfully, but the effect was lost on Cho. It was the scars again.  
  
"I see," said Harry grimly. He pulled his robe on properly. "Actually, I don't see at all. Please tell me what's going on Cho." He stood with his arms crossed, staring at her, waiting for her to speak.  
  
He was blaming himself, Cho realized. She gestured for him to sit beside her. Once he was there she opened up the top of his robe. With a finger she traced a particularly large and jagged scar across his chest. "Do they still hurt?" she asked. She was pretty sure she remembered him getting that one.  
  
Harry, very confused, shook his head.  
  
Cho continued to trace scars, occasionally stopping to place a random kiss, until she had made a complete circuit. "Do you hate me, Harry?"  
  
"No!" insisted Harry, "I could never hate you, Cho. How could you ask such a thing?"  
  
Cho returned to tracing the large, jagged scar. "I caused all of this. If it weren't for me, none of this would have happened."  
  
Harry shook his head. "No, Cho. Ginny did this. She was sick, possessed by Voldemort and his darkness. You didn't do this."  
  
"I could have stopped her," Cho insisted, "All I had to do was cry out and get her attention, and she would have stopped hurting you. Instead, I just stood there and watched her beat you."  
  
Harry cradled her in his arms. "That was the plan, Cho. I know it wasn't a good one, but I'm a Gryffindor: I'm not supposed to be smart, just brave."  
  
Cho tried to laugh but couldn't. "You don't understand. I know that was the plan, but I let her do it. When she gave you the choice, I wanted to you to denounce me. If she had asked me then, I would have done it in a second. I would have begged her to kill me. I was weak, Harry. I would have rather seen you snogging Ginny Weasley than feel that pain again. I was willing to let her beat you to death, rather than feel that pain."  
  
Harry tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away. "Every time I see these scars, it just reminds me that I was weak and that I betrayed you. While you spat in her face and asked for more, I was cringing. You proved that your love was stronger than anything. I proved just the opposite. I don't know how you can still love me after that."  
  
Harry gently wiped away her tears and held her close. "Cho, please don't cry." Cho however, continued to cry so Harry kept her close. "Please don't feel this way. You weren't weak. There's an entire ward of people at St. Mungo's who went through what you did and lost their sanity because of it. You held on, Cho, and that was anything but weak. I was so afraid I was going to lose you, and I was willing to do anything to keep that from happening. If Ginny was going to kill you, I didn't want to live to see it.  
  
"These scars are my fault. When you were kidnapped, everyone tried to convince me to wait until a rescue party could be organized. I was angry and I wouldn't listen. I even pulled my wand and threatened Professor Dumbledore. I could've waited and we could have rescued you properly. Instead, I let my own stupid pride get in the way. You could have been killed, or even worse, driven to madness. I panicked. What I did was an act of desperation.  
  
"These scars are a reminder to me that there are things more important than stupid Gryffindor pride. You would never have been able to even think you had failed me if I had not failed you first. I thought it was enough that I had paid for my error, I had no idea that you would have to pay for it too."  
  
Harry took Cho's head in his hands. "If anyone needs forgiveness here, it isn't you," he said quietly, then cradled her head against his shoulder.  
  
They sat there holding each other, not speaking for some time, each lost in their own thoughts. Cho brushed the black mop of Harry's hair back and rested her forehead against his. "I never understood how it was that you came to blame yourself for Cedric's death. It just didn't seem rational; when it was so obvious that it was someone else's fault. I'm sure there is a really good psychological explanation for all of this, and I don't have any idea what it is, but I understand you now.  
  
"You take the blame for everything onto yourself, Harry, and it isn't your burden to carry. I understand now how easy it is to do. I don't know if you've just rubbed off on me, or if I was always this way, or if this is just a universal human condition, but I've been doing the same thing. I'm not conceding anything here, but the real wrongs done that day weren't done by either of us. Part of me still feels that I gave in too easily, that I should have been stronger, but not so much that I am willing to give you up over it. Those scars can remind you of your pride if that's what you feel you need to learn, but they are going to remind me of my weakness. I'm sorry you have to wear the marks for both of us."  
  
"It's the least I can do," Harry said. "I wouldn't have it any other way." He leaned in to kiss Cho again. This time she accepted his kiss and returned it.  
  
"You'd better get dressed, Harry" Cho said. "Or we'll be here all day, and Hermione will be waiting."  
  
Harry pulled on his robe and smoothed the wrinkles out with his hand. Then ran a comb through his hair. Cho fussed over him, straightening his collar, and brushing lint off of his shoulders. "Harry, you really should get some new clothes. You can't go everywhere in your school robes, and the Muggle clothes you have are just rags."  
  
Harry shrugged. "I never thought about it really. It's just what I've always had. I guess I'm just used to it. I wouldn't even know to buy, I've never been given a choice before.."  
  
"I can help there," Cho said with a smile. "We can visit Madame Malkin's while we're at Diagon Alley today."  
  
Harry agreed. It was a new life he was living and he marveled at the changes. He was free to visit his friends, to go out for an afternoon of shopping and dinner, free to choose his own clothing even.he felt normal, and he liked it. He scribbled a note for Sirius and Remus, then he and Cho went through the flue to The Leaky Cauldron where they found Hermione waiting for them  
  
Harry and Cho walked down Diagon Alley with their arms around each other's waist, Hermione close at hand. At Gringott's Harry withdrew a sack full of Galleons and from there they split up. Hermione headed off to Flourish and Bott's while Harry and Cho were headed towards Madame Malkin's. Whoever finished first would meet the other and from there they would go to dinner.  
  
At Madame Malkin's Cho helped Harry decide on an assortment of robes and Muggle clothing ranging from the casual to dress. It was a process, which although necessary, Harry found tiresome and unappealing. After a short while he had become quite irritable. Cho shrugged it all off, and had him try on extras just for good measure. When she was done, Harry was quite sure that he had just purchased more clothes than he had owned in his entire life prior to this.  
  
"But now you have a wardrobe, Harry. You can go anywhere you want and be dressed properly."  
  
That might be true, mused Harry, but he was quite sure he would never remember which socks went with which ties, and which cufflinks went with which shirts. Many Galleons lighter, they made their way towards Flourish and Blott's to find Hermione. Reunited, the three of them decided to look at the other shops of Diagon alley before heading to The Leaky Cauldron for supper.  
  
Once past the entrance to Knockturn Alley, the quality of shop began to deteriorate. None of them had ever gone this far, and they looked curiously at the jumble of pawnshops, reeking potion huts, second-hand stores, and who-knew what else. Deciding they'd had about enough, they crossed the street and reversed direction. Passing the narrow gap between two shops a hand reached out and grabbed Harry.  
  
Cho let out a small scream as Harry was yanked abruptly away from her. Hermione responded instantly by drawing her wand. Cho drew hers a second later, and terrified, plunged into the blackness.  
  
"Lumos" Hermione muttered and was rewarded with a glow of warm light at the end of her wand. The narrow gap between the two buildings reached back about 5 meters and at the end there was a narrow ladder leading up to a battered door.  
  
Cho, who was in the lead, moved timidly towards the ladder. The ground was covered with debris and from the shadows, small glowing eyes peered at her. She could only assume that they were rats, actually, she thought, she could only hope that they were rats, and not something worse. There was no question where Harry had been taken, so she cautiously climbed the ladder and tried the door. Hermione followed close behind her.  
  
The door was locked. "Alohamora" Cho whispered, and tried the door again. It was still locked. "To hell with this", Cho spat, "If Harry's in there, I'm getting him out." She pointed her wand at the door again. "Reducto" Instantly the door burst into splinters.  
  
"Bloody Hell!" a voice shouted.  
  
Cho and Hermione stormed through the doorway to find themselves in a large, rather grungy room. In one corner was Harry's immobile form.  
  
"Expelliarmus" the voice shouted.  
  
Cho ducked without thinking. "Silencio" she returned and watched as her curse hit its mark.  
  
Hermione cast a total body bind afterwards for good measure. Both women moved to inspect the fallen figure.  
  
"That's just great!" said Cho, "What the hell is wrong with you Weasleys? Decided to finish your sister's work?"  
  
Silently, Ron Weasley stared back at her. With the Silencius curse on him, he remained unable to speak but his eyes were full of anger.  
  
"MLES will be here soon," said Hermione, "If nothing else to investigate unauthorized magic by Ron and myself. They'll handle it, Cho."  
  
Cho had turned to tend to Harry. She dispelled the curses placed on him and cast an Enervate to bring him around. Groggily he stood up and surveyed the scene. Cho put her arms around him to keep him steady and covered his face with kisses of relief.  
  
"Ron?" Harry asked, and seemed puzzled when he didn't answer.  
  
"Silencing curse," Cho explained.  
  
"Remove it," Harry ordered. Cho looked at him defiantly and made no move to comply. "Take his wand and leave the body bind on him if you have to, but I want to hear what he has to say."  
  
Cho reluctantly did so, but kept her wand pointed at him.  
  
"Why, Ron?" Harry asked, "We're friends; you're the brother I never had. Are you a Death Eater now?"  
  
"You say you're my friend," Ron countered, "and you can stand there and ask me if I'm a Death Eater?"  
  
"What's he supposed to think, Weasley?" Cho demanded. "You disarmed Hermione and surrendered her to your sister. You disappeared for months and the first he sees of you is being snatched off a street in broad daylight and cursed unconscious."  
  
"Stay the Hell out of this Cho Chang. Maybe you missed the part where I erased my sister's mind and turned her into an effing vegetable. I saved your life too."  
  
"It's okay, Ron." Harry said calmly, "Cho's upset, but we've all been worried sick about you. Why did you stay gone so long?"  
  
"Look, Potter, I don't want your sympathy. Take your scar, your beautiful girlfriend, your stack of Galleons, your flock of fans, and go be a hero somewhere else. I know who and what you really are."  
  
Harry knelt beside Ron and stared him in the eyes. "That's right, Ron, you know me better than that. I know you too, though. Right now, I know you're so full of shit your eyes are brown. You know I'm not going to leave, so you might as well talk. Why, Ron?"  
  
"I could ask you the same bloody question, Harry. Why?"  
  
"I don't understand, Ron. What do you want to know?"  
  
"Why the whole damned mess? Why does the whole world revolve around Harry Potter? Why did I have to Obliviate Ginny? My little sister was 15 years old and I had to point my wand at her and erase an entire life. My own sister! I had to disarm and betray one of my two best friends to keep her from killing my sister. Why did I have to do that, Harry? It was your mess, why was I the one who had to clean it up?"  
  
"What you did was hard, Ron, but it was necessary."  
  
"No it was not! You could have prevented it, Harry. If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened."  
  
"I ought to turn you into a rat," hissed Cho, "How can you even think about blaming, Harry?  
  
"Shut up, Chang. This is between Harry and me. Look at him. He knows it's the truth."  
  
Harry had a look of profound sadness on his face. Cho saw the look and knew what it meant. "Don't listen to him, Harry. You know it's not the truth."  
  
"What could I have done, Ron? You, Ginny, your whole family have taken me in and treated me like one of their own. You know that if there were anything I could have done to prevent this, I would have done. I fought to save Ginny once before and I would have done it again. What could I have done, Ron?"  
  
"You could have loved her," Ron said flatly, "That's all she wanted. Ever. For six bloody years she hid behind doors, and stared wistfully, waiting for you to notice her. So you were both too young for the first few years, but that changed. You had a crush on Cho for a couple years and that was okay too. But you were over that after the TriWizard Competition. You were supposed to fall in love with Ginny, not Cho. If you had just done what you were supposed to, none of this would have happened.  
  
Harry stood up and took a step back. "You're wrong, Ron. I don't know if we get to choose who we love or not, but we aren't 'supposed' to love anyone. I can see why you might have wanted Ginny and I to be together, but none of that actually has anything to with who either of us actually is. Ginny had the shadow of Voldemort in her head. That shadow would have been there whether I loved her or not, and sooner or later it would have made its presence known.  
  
"I am truly sorry for what happened to Ginny, and I am even sorrier that you had to be the one to do it. I'm not sorry I'm in love with Cho though. Voldemort destroyed Ginny, not me, not Cho, and in the end, not even you. You know."  
  
Before Harry could finish his sentence, the pops of Apparation could be heard. Five Aurors appeared with wands drawn. "Freeze, every one slowly raise your hands and drop your wands."  
  
"It took you long enough," muttered Cho, "We did all the hard work for you."  
  
"What's going on here?" asked the lead Auror "You'd all better identify yourselves."  
  
"Cho Chang, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger. The thug on the floor is Ron Weasley, he kidnapped Harry and we rescued him, thank you very much."  
  
"The Harry Potter?" asked the Auror incredulously.  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
"There's a bulletin out for Ronald Weasley," said one of the other Aurors.  
  
"You said he kidnapped Harry Potter?" the lead Auror asked. A more serious look crossed his face, and he pulled Ron to his feet.  
  
"It was just a misunderstanding," Harry insisted, "no one kidnapped anyone. We'd all like to go home now, if it's all the same."  
  
Cho appeared miffed, but she kept quiet.  
  
"If there's a bulletin out for him," the lead Auror stated, "we should take him back to the station. There's also the matter of disturbing the peace and underage use of magic."  
  
"Like I said, it was all just a misunderstanding." Harry brushed his hair aside to reveal his scar. "Cho and Hermione were just trying to protect me, we've been through a lot lately." Harry directed his comments towards the leader, who seemed fixated on Harry's scar.  
  
"I could let you off with a warning for the use of magic and disturbing the peace, but Mr. Weasley really needs to come down to headquarters."  
  
"Does he have to come right now?" Harry asked earnestly. "What if he gave his word he would come in tomorrow? His father is a ministry official. You could always contact him if Ron fails to show."  
  
"Do you give your word, Mr. Weasley?" the lead Auror asked.  
  
Ron nodded. "I promise, sir," he said contritely.  
  
"As long as there's no harm done, and I have your word, I don't see why I have to report this as anything other than a false alarm."  
  
"Thank you very much, sir" Harry offered his hand and the Auror shook it readily. "If there's ever anything I can do for you, please feel free to let me know."  
  
"Well, now that you mention it I'd really like to get an autograph - for my kid, you know."  
  
Harry ended up signing nearly a dozen autographs before the Aurors finally departed. Once the Aurors were gone and the binding curse on Ron was removed, Harry helped him to his feet  
  
"Let's get you home, Ron."  
  
The four of them went to the nearest shop and with a flash of Floo Powder stepped through the fireplace and into the Burrow. Hermione went first, followed by Ron, then Cho and finally Harry. A very haggard looking Mrs. Weasley, hearing the noise, emerged from the kitchen still wearing her apron. Her face lit up on seeing Hermione, but turned into an absolute beacon of joy on seeing Ron.  
  
Mrs. Weasley hugged and cried over Ron. Mr. Weasley, who appeared a pale shadow of his former self, came to investigate the noise, and joined her. Cho, Harry and Hermione began to feel that this was probably one of those moments best suited for family and began making their way toward the fireplace.  
  
Mr. Weasley stopped them. "Harry, Hermione, Cho, please don't go." The trio looked exchanged glances, and then moved back into the living room.  
  
"Dear lord," Mrs. Weasley flustered, "what was I thinking? You all must be starving. Sit, and I'll bring you a snack." In a bustle, she disappeared into the kitchen.  
  
"We really don't want to be a bother," Hermione said.  
  
"Nonsense," said Mr. Weasley, "You and Harry are family, and you Cho by extension. Any friend of Harry's is a friend of ours."  
  
Mrs. Weasley arrived shortly with platters full of steaming food. Ron dug in ravenously and his mother stood over him the entire time making sure his plate never got anywhere close to empty. The others nibbled, but their hearts weren't into it.  
  
"We were worried about you, you know - All of you." Mr. Weasley said quietly. "We wanted to visit you but we weren't sure if you wanted to see us. It's been so hard with Ron missing, and Ginny."  
  
At the mention of Ginny's name, Mrs. Weasley seemed to deflate. She started to speak, then stopped and went back to the kitchen. Ron stopped eating, and dropped his fork. "Dad, about Ginny." He stopped and looked stonily into space.  
  
"I read the reports, son. You don't have to explain."  
  
"But I do. I have to explain to you and mum.and Hermione at the very least. Ginny was.she had.well, you know all that.and Malfoy. I hated him, but he didn't deserve to be killed. We knew something was wrong with her, as if hanging out with a Malfoy wasn't a big enough clue. She did a lot of stuff - she memory charmed us last summer when Hermione and Sirius took Harry away.  
  
All during the school year, there were signs. She spent more time with the Slytherins than the Gryffindor's. There were signs but I just ignored them. We're Weasleys - there's an army of us, we're poor, and we're the good guys. That's just the way things are. I just couldn't believe that Ginny could really be evil. I chalked it up to her just having a tough time getting over Harry.  
  
"I mean, she had a right to be upset. She had waited for years for him to notice her, and everybody thought it was about to happen. Then he was with Cho. I understand Harry is happy with Cho, and he has the right to love whomever he wants to, but that didn't make it any easier for her to deal with. You understand, Harry, that I want you to be happy? I was in a position though, where your happiness conflicted with my sister's. I had to choose between my best friend and my sister.  
  
"When Dumbledore stuck his head through the trapdoor of Madame Trewlawney's classroom, I knew right then that something was wrong. It was obvious Ginny was involved and then Harry left, but I was still hoping that she was just a pawn, that Voldemort was just manipulating her through her feelings for Harry. In the forest though, that was pretty obviously not the case.  
  
"Hermione was going to.Even in the middle of all that death and blood. Cho looked like death in a can, and Harry.I thought it was too late for him.all I could see was my little sister. I couldn't let you kill her, Hermione. I know you felt betrayed and I know you thought you were justified, but she was my sister. I still had this vague hope that it was all a mistake. When I saw that it wasn't a mistake, I did what I had to do. I thought, maybe, someday someone will find a way to reverse a memory curse, and maybe someday Ginny will be her old self again."  
  
Mrs. Weasley could be heard choking behind the door. Every one was silent for a seeming eternity. Finally, Mr. Weasley spoke. "Ron, You had to make a tough decision that day. I don't think that very many people could have done what you did. I honestly don't know if I could have. As much as it hurts me to say this, you did the right thing. There's no question that Ginny, or whatever was controlling her, had to be stopped.  
  
"You're home now, son. Your mum and I love you, your brothers love you, and your friends love you." Mr. Weasley put his hand on his son's shoulder. "I know it hurts, but I'm proud of you."  
  
Mrs. Weasley came back into the room and gave Ron a hug. All of the Weasleys began to weep. Once again, Harry, Cho, and Hermione made their way towards the flue. This time no effort was made to stop them. Cho, Harry, and Hermione stepped through the Burrow's Fireplace and emerged into Professor Lupin's house in a small cloud of soot. Harry offered tea, but Hermione insisted that she would rather just go home. Cho however took him up  
  
"You're not angry with me, are you?" Harry asked.  
  
"I was, but not so much anymore. I was trying to protect you, you know. All I could think of was losing you again, but for real this time, and I wasn't going to let that happen. I think maybe, you trust the Weasleys too much given everything that's happened. You'll do what you feel is best though, and I really don't have much choice but to defer to your judgment.  
  
"Cho, Ron is my best friend. Before there was you, I trusted him and Hermione with my life. If he needs to take out some frustrations on me, then I'll let him. I think I've changed from all of this - I think not so long ago I would have felt responsible for Ginny, but now I don't. It still hurts to think about it, and part of me feels that I have to think about it, but I know it wasn't my fault. It has to be you that's given me that wisdom, or insight, or whatever it, so I have to thank you for that."  
  
"I'll take it out in trade," Cho said with a smile. She bent across the table to kiss him, but his heart wasn't in it. Cho sighed. It had just been one of those days.  
  
"Your parents tomorrow," Harry offered, "I'm really nervous about it. You're sure your mum doesn't hate me anymore. I know she came to visit while I was in Hospital, but maybe she was just being nice. I don't know what will happen if your parents hate me. What if I Bludger thing up?"  
  
"Harry!" Cho inwardly thought Harry was hilarious, but she was trying not to show it. "You'll do fine. My mother doesn't hate you." She got up and sat in his lap. "And I decided a long time ago what would happen if my parents didn't like you. I even told them."  
  
Harry kissed her, this time with his heart in it. Suitably hot and bothered, Cho stood up. "Well, I really better go before we get carried away." She kissed his forehead. "Tomorrow," she said, "don't be late."  
  
The next day, Harry dressed carefully in one of the new robes he'd bought the day before. Freshly showered, shaved & cologned, he wrestled with his hair until he got the majority of it into something resembling a combed state and called it a draw. Downstairs he found Sirius and Remus waiting for him with wolf whistles and catcalls. Determined to ignore them, Harry move directly towards the fireplace, but once there, found the Floo Powder missing.  
  
"You really didn't think you were going out of here that easily did you?" Moony asked. Twirling the pouch that held the Floo Powder around his finger.  
  
"Good thinking, Remus. I'd have never thought of that." Sirius said with a huge grin.  
  
"So, Harry, off to meet the parents, eh? Big, big step there."  
  
"We felt obliged to warn you that the famous Potter charm sometimes works on mothers, but almost never works on fathers." Sirius said with a grin. "If worst comes to worst, don't be afraid to run."  
  
"Thanks for the confidence, guys. Now, if wouldn't mind sharing a bit of Floo Powder, I need to go. Being late isn't going to help my case any." Harry said impatiently.  
  
"I bought you some flowers," said Sirius, handing him a colorful bouquet.  
  
"I'm touched," said Harry sarcastically, "but I think Cho is the jealous type."  
  
"Not for you, git," said Sirius, "for Cho's mother. You're going to need all the help you can get."  
  
"Just for that, we shouldn't tell him about the spot on his robe"  
  
Harry began immediately fussing about his robe looking for the offending mark.  
  
"I think we should tell him the story about Prongs meeting Mr. and Mrs. Evans"  
  
"Okay, I surrender. anything, just please let me go before I'm late.  
  
"Actually," said Remus, "it went pretty much like what you're going through right now." He handed Harry the Floo Powder. "Good luck, Harry."  
  
"Just relax," said Sirius, "You've already impressed Cho and she's the one that counts." He handed Harry the flowers. "Remember, we raised you to be a gentleman."  
  
"Don't do anything we wouldn't." Remus said.  
  
"Is that even possible?" Harry threw a handful of powder into the fire and vanished before he could get an answer.  
  
Cho sparkled at Harry as he emerged from the Hearth. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then greeted her mother with the flowers. Mrs. Chang accepted them gracefully. Mr. Chang greeted Harry like a long lost friend.  
  
"Glad to finally meet you, Harry. I've heard so much about you."  
  
"Likewise, sir." Harry said.  
  
"I guess I really don't have to ask what you're planning to do when you leave Hogwarts. I was there at Cho's last game. Wonderful things you two do on a broom. I was hoping to meet you then, but there was all of that post- match celebration, different houses and all of that. It's a real shame you Gryffindors took the House Cup again."  
  
"We're its rightful home, sir. " Harry said with a grin.  
  
"I'm sure you like to think so, and there's no denying you've done your part to keep it there. I had lunch with Cho today and she explained the situation with your book, and agents. I would really like to keep you two out of the hands of the Ludo Bagman's of the world, so I took the liberty of making an appointment with Stanley Shoesmith - he represents some of the best Quidditch players in Europe - I've also invited Madame Hooch. If you want to come, you should bring your Godfather and anyone else you feel appropriate."  
  
"Harry, you just have to be there," Cho said, then turned to her father. "Harry and I really want to play on the same team, or at the very least, teams that are close to each other."  
  
Mr. Chang nodded thoughtfully. "That's going to limit your options, you know. Not many teams are going to be willing to take a chance on two rookie Seekers at one time."  
  
"We're not just any Seekers though," observed Harry. "I don't care if I have to play for the Transylvania, I'm not going anywhere Cho isn't."  
  
Mr. Chang smiled. "Did you say that last match they played against Prague? Those Beaters they have must be part Giant. One of them knocked a Bludger into one of Prague's Chasers. The poor bloke must have been knocked ten feet before he even knew he didn't have a broom under him."  
  
The conversation became a general discussion of Quidditch, until Mrs. Chang announced that it was time for dinner. Harry ate nervously, trying to remember every scrap of a table manner he had ever learned. If Mr. Chang had dominated the pre-dinner conversation, Mrs. Chang did so over the table. Slowly, Harry became convinced that Cho's mother really did accept him, and he began to relax.  
  
After dinner and more conversation, Cho and Harry were finally left alone for a few minutes to say good bye. Cho quickly seized the opportunity to give Harry a kiss. "I've been wanting to do that all evening," she said. Harry remained nervous about kissing Cho in her parents' house. Cho laughed at him. "Why do you think they left us alone, Harry?" Harry consented, and kissed Cho in a way that left her weak in the knees.  
  
"That's more like it," Cho smiled. Harry grinned back at her and stepped toward the hearth. "Until tomorrow, then"  
  
"Until tomorrow," Harry answered.  
  
Harry, Sirius, and Remus walked into the plush offices of Stanley Shoesmith. A very pretty receptionist greeted them and immediately directed them to a conference room. Already waiting for them were Cho, Mr. Chang, Madame Hooch, Ms. Moran from the English team, and a very smooth looking gentleman who introduced himself as Stan Shoesmith.  
  
"Since everyone's here, let's talk business."  
  
"We, Harry and I," Cho started, "want to play Quidditch and we believe you are the person to represent us."  
  
"Not to ring my own bell," Mr. Shoesmith said dryly, "but you understand that I represent stars, not wannabe rookies. If you want to play Quidditch, fine. Go sign with Liverpool, or Puddlemere, or god forbid, the Chudley Cannons; make a name for yourself and then come back. We'll talk."  
  
"You do know this is Harry Potter, don't you?" Professor Lupin spoke.  
  
"Yes," Mr. Shoesmith answered, "He already has a name, and I think I could represent him. He still has to finish Hogwarts though. I manage careers, not potentialities."  
  
"I'll sign Potter right now." Ms Moran interjected.  
  
Mr. Shoesmith raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Perhaps we can talk after all."  
  
"I want Potter," Ms. Moran said, "The kid is brilliant. He has a vision that is going to change Quidditch. He's a little rough around the edges, but when he matures he is going to absolutely dominate."  
  
"That good? Let's say I'm interested."  
  
"What about Cho?" Harry asked.  
  
"What about her?" Shoesmith asked.  
  
"I'm not signing for any team she's not on. I'll play for the Cannons first."  
  
"That's very noble, kid."  
  
"Harry"  
  
"Harry, but opportunities like this don't come along very often for someone your age. You have to grab this while you can."  
  
"I'm not negotiating on this. Cho is as good as I am; she's the only one who has ever beaten me. If she doesn't sign I don't sign."  
  
Ms. Moran spoke. "I'm going out on a limb here as it is. I have a Seeker slot open and I'm willing to put you in it. I don't have a place for both you."  
  
"Trade Burrell then." Madame Hooch said.  
  
"You put him up to this, didn't you Hooch?" Ms Moran demanded.  
  
Madame Hooch just shook her head and tossed videotape on the table. "Play this, "she demanded. Shoesmith put the tape in the machine and punched it up on his enormous 54-inch monitor. The last three Ravenclaw v. Gryffindor matches played out on the screen.  
  
"Ok," Shoesmith said, "I'm convinced. I'll take both of you. Erin, unless you're here to negotiate your presence represents a conflict of interest."  
  
"I'm negotiating." Ms. Moran said, glaring at Madame Hooch.  
  
"We're listening," said Shoesmith, tenting his fingers. It was easy to see he was enjoying this.  
  
"I made my position clear. I can take Potter and only Potter."  
  
"Call Horrigan then," Hooch said, "Lynch is getting a little long in the tooth, I bet he'll agree."  
  
That earned her another glare  
  
"Look," said Shoesmith, "face the facts - these two are going to play Quidditch. You saw the tape, it's going to take the rest of the Quidditch world a season or two just to figure out what the heck they're doing up there. Now, I would love to see those two face off in a professional match, but if you have both of them, that's like having a patent on fire. These two are going to rewrite the book Seeker tactics. You are going to kick yourself SO hard if you let this slip by."  
  
"We already have written the book, sir. Cho has anyway. Show him the manuscript."  
  
Shoesmith's eyes lit up. Cho passed the binder that held their combined work. Shoesmith thumbed through it carefully. "Have you shown this to anyone else?" They shook their heads in response. "Don't. We'll talk about this later."  
  
"Think about it, Erin. How long has it been since England has been to the Championships, let alone won? How would you like to be the manager that brings two, maybe three Championship cups home in a row?"  
  
Ms. Moran squirmed in her chair. "OK, maybe we can make this work. Potter can't actually play until next season, so I'll sign Chang as a reserve. That gives me a year to trade Burrell. Next year Potter will start as Seeker. I want him training this summer though."  
  
"Fine, let's talk Galleons." Shoesmith and Moran began to dicker back and forth about numbers and contract lengths. Eventually they came to a number they both found acceptable and agreed to pass it on to the lawyers. Ms Moran gathered her briefcase, gave Madame Hooch one last glare and left.  
  
"Congratulations," Shoesmith said, holding out his hand first to Cho then to Harry. "You're playing for England. I need both of you here tomorrow, with attorneys to sign contracts designating me as your agent, then next week most likely to sign with the team."  
  
"That was real money you were talking about then?" asked Mr. Chang.  
  
"That's only the tip of the iceberg. The real money comes from endorsements." Mr. Shoesmith stood up indicating the meeting was over. "Tomorrow, one o'clock."  
  
The six of them walked out of the office and onto Diagon Alley.  
  
"I can't believe I'm actually going to get paid to play Quidditch." Harry said.  
  
"We did it," Cho said, giving him a hug.  
  
"I think a celebration is in order," Mr. Chang said. "The Cauldron?"  
  
"Too busy," said Cho.  
  
"I know just the place," said Madame Hooch. She led them to an out of the way nook a few blocks away into a blind alley and into a surprisingly cozy pub. The bartender greeted her as she led them to a corner booth. "First round is on me."  
  
While the older members of the group took turns buying rounds and playing darts. Cho and Harry sat in the corner, nursing their ale and sitting quietly. Madame Hooch came and sat at the table with them.  
  
"You two ever get tired of looking at each other?" she asked gruffly. Harry shook his head. Cho just smiled. "You did good today, Potter. I'm proud of you."  
  
"You did better" Harry replied, "Just do me a favor and never ever mention to Ron that I bad mouthed the Cannons. I'm sorry you had to fight with your friend."  
  
"It's all right," Madame Hooch answered. "She was just doing her job. We know each other well enough that we don't let Quidditch get in the way of friendship. or vice versa. She'll thank me for it once she has a Championship to show for it."  
  
"Thanks for everything, Madame Hooch. I wouldn't be here today if you hadn't encouraged me."  
  
"You can drop the Madame now, you know. You're not a student anymore. Just don't teach Potter any bad habits. You did all the hard work; I just gave you a nudge in the right direction. I'm proud of you too. Go out and catch a Snitch for me and we'll call it even."  
  
"I'll do that," said Cho with a smile.  
  
Madame Hooch got up and went back to throwing darts.  
  
"Let's leave," Cho whispered into Harry's ear. "My idea of celebrating is a little different than my dad's"  
  
"Why, Miss Chang!" Harry returned in mock surprise, "What could you possibly be thinking? I'd better tell Sirius so he doesn't ground me or something."  
  
"I have to tell my dad too. I'll meet you by the fireplace."  
  
Harry went to Sirius and whispered in his ear, while Cho pulled her father aside. "Dad, Harry and I are going to leave."  
  
"Sure, Cho. I'll see you back at home then."  
  
Cho blushed. "Umm, Dad. About that."  
  
"Oh," exclaimed Mr. Chang, blushing with embarrassment, "I see... I suppose this isn't the time to ask questions, is it? Harry isn't making you do anything you don't want, is he?"  
  
Cho shook her head.  
  
"I guess we'll talk about this later, or I'll talk with Harry later, or.just be safe Cho."  
  
Cho nodded, gave her dad a peck on the cheek, and ran to the fireplace to find Harry waiting for her. "I was thinking," said Cho, "We might go to that little Inn just outside of Hogsmeade."  
  
"The one we always talked about?" Harry's face had a glow about it, but then he suddenly hit himself on the head. "I told Sirius I was going home, I have to tell him."  
  
"I'll be here." Cho replied. Harry left and came back several minutes later looking quite pale. "What's wrong Harry?"  
  
"I told Sirius, and I got the reaction I expected, which was bad enough. Then your father asked for a word. I'm on my honor to be a perfect gentleman, or he's going to send a squad of hit-wizards after me."  
  
"Don't worry about my father, Harry." She took his hand and they stepped into the Hearth together.  
  
Much later that evening, wrapped in warm fuzzy robes and standing on the balcony arms encircled, they watched as the moon played hide and seek with its own reflection as it glimmered off the nearby lake. The smell of rain to come was heavy in the air and there was crispness as if the approaching storm was gathering itself to pounce on an unsuspecting prey. Neither Cho nor Harry seemed to notice.  
  
"A wonderful idea, Miss Chang, and a truly magical evening."  
  
Cho nestled herself deeper into his arms. "Someday," she said, "this won't be such a big deal. Everyday will be like this."  
  
"Being with you like this will always be a big deal," Harry said sincerely.  
  
Cho gave him a gentle kiss and hugged him tighter. "We did it, Harry. Our dream is really going to come true. We have contracts; we're on the same team. We still have to get through your last year at Hogwarts, and I'm not looking forward to seeing you only once a month, but after everything else we've been through it's just a hurdle."  
  
"Maybe Madame Hooch will invite you in as a guest coach, you being a professional Quidditch player and all."  
  
Cho couldn't help but smile. "Next year at this time, it'll be nothing but you and Snitches for me."  
  
Harry looked at her and smiled. "I've already caught the Snitch that matters most."  
  
Cho leaned in and kissed him. Harry returned it with fire and passion. The fire burned into an inferno and threatened to consume them both. Wrapped in each other's arms they returned in doors. Rain arrived with a gust of wind and a clap of thunder, but neither Cho nor Harry noticed.  
  
Ron took one last look through the glass into the dayroom of St. Mungo's where Ginny sat. Tears welled up in his eyes again as he turned to walk down the long, white-tiled hallway that would take him to the exit. He had been here every week since his return, and every week looking into Ginny's blank eyes had affected him the same way. It wasn't fair, it was right, but it was a fact and he had to deal with it.  
  
Back in the day room, an orderly turned on the Wizarding Wireless Network for the patients. It wasn't as if the occupants would remember anything they heard, but perhaps it would make the moments of experience more pleasant. If nothing else, the orderly thought, he wouldn't miss the Quidditch match.  
  
It was an outstanding match. England was doing well this year, and showed no signs of slowing down. At the rate they were going, the Championships were almost a certainty. Duty called, and the orderly was forced to attend to other matters, hoping that he would be able to return before the match ended.  
  
A room full of blank faces stared randomly around the room. Some stared at flowers with fascination, others stared out the window at birds whose names they could no longer remember. Occasionally someone would speak, but whatever thought had urged them to do so was long lost before the words were completely uttered. Above it all, the wireless droned on with the events of the game.  
  
The orderly bustled back into the room, just as the voice of the announcer became excited.  
  
".England's Seeker has found the Snitch . she's on it, and Poland's Seeker is still recovering from that last feint. Chang is closing, pushing her broom to its limit. she has it! Cho Chang has caught the Snitch and England wins by fifty points! What a match! What a display by England's newest Seeker! Cho Chang wins the game!"  
  
The orderly cheered, and momentarily some of the closer patients shared his enthusiasm. Quickly though, they forgot what they were excited about, and the cheer left. The orderly left again to see to his responsibilities and the room returned to it's a normal state. A sea of blank faces stared at the walls and the floors, at the drapes and out the windows. In the corner, one face was different. Surrounded by waves of red hair, Ginny Weasley's face remained locked in a permanent scowl.  
  
Author's Note:  
  
The Seekers has finally ended. I would like to thank all of you who stuck around to the end, read, enjoyed, and wrote such kinds reviews and emails. I would also like to thank those who helped as Beta Readers - Alex, BP, and especially Amy, without whom this story would be a mere shadow of what it turned out to be.  
  
I also feel that I owe an apology for the long wait between chapters 8 and 9. For several months my life became extremely tumultuous on a personal level. This story had become a sort of metaphor for a certain part of my life, and when that part of my life ceased to be, this story suffered as a result. At its core, this story was about hope, and I found it extremely difficult to write about such things when I felt none. Eventually, art prevailed over life and I found an inner muse to replace the external one.  
  
For those of you wondering how the story came about, here is the synopsis: This story came about as part of two separate ideas. In the final part of 'Destiny and the Headmaster' there is a Quidditch match. While writing that scene, I came to realize that Quidditch, and in particular the role of Seeker simply wouldn't work as JKR wrote it. Having served as a lookout in the Navy, I knew a few things about searching for something small and moving while on an unstable platform. I spent a great deal of time thinking about the physics of Quidditch until I worked it out to my satisfaction.  
  
At the same time, there was a thread going on at Fiction Alley along the lines that Harry and Cho were not a viable pairing. I simply didn't feel this to be the case. I resolved to write a story about Harry and Cho that did not gloss over the obvious issues they would have to deal with. Originally they were two separate story ideas. I faced a problem though - in the Harry/Cho story I needed a confrontation, and in the Quidditch story, Harry needed a worthy competitor. From that need, the two stories became joined together. The original plot was very different, but it was flawed and I abandoned it. I started over from scratch, but used some of the better elements from the original plot, When the idea of an 'Evil Ginny' occurred to me, the plot was complete, and I began serious writing. The result is what you have read  
  
There will be a sequel to 'The Seekers' entitled 'The Construction of Light'. I only have the plot half figured, but I am working on it. I am also working on other projects, including original, non-fan fiction works, so it may be late summer before chapters start to appear. The story closest to completion at this point is Harry Potter fan fiction entitled "Legacies", the first chapters for it should appear within a few weeks - but a word of warning: it is not a Harry/Cho story, but instead a Harry/Ginny story. It is not really a story of love so much as one of Good vs. Evil.  
  
Thanks again to all of you,  
  
Charles, AKA The Novice 


End file.
